Unexpected Love
by WritingHealstheHeart
Summary: Chelsea has joined the BAU and found herself immediately taken by Spencer Reid. Join them as they navigate these feelings, while Chelsea hides a secret about her past. *Not a great summary, but if you like Spencer you'll love it*
1. Chapter 1

*I tried hard to get someone to beta read this, but no responses. I hope you all enjoy it. I tried rereading it over and over again to make sure it was believable and that I didn't rush things. That being said I hope you enjoy this. Also I do not own the characters, with the exception of Chelsea. There are parts of the story that I have taken straight from the TV show. I do not own those as I am not nearly as talented as the Criminal Minds writers are. All I did was add some parts to include Chelsea. I hope you enjoy! Remember to leave me feedback – any and all constructive criticism is welcome!*

Criminal Minds story found in this potion: Season 3, Episode 18: The Crossing.

(XXXXX)

It was a cold fall morning in Virginia and the members of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit sat around a table in the conference room waiting to be debriefed on their newest case. Derek Morgan, the handsome, muscular agent sat back in his chair with his eyes closed. Emily Prentiss, the beautiful black haired agent, was shivering and trying to warm herself with a cup of coffee. Sitting across from Emily, was Dr. Spencer Reid, the adorable genius, who was doodling in a notebook.

"It is freezing outside! How is it so cold in October?" Emily moaned as she snuggled deeper into her black wool jacket.

"I love when it's cold outside. It's like Mother Nature is ushering in the start of the holiday seasons," Spencer said not looking up from his drawing.

"I like the holidays, but it shouldn't be 40 degrees on October 3," Emily said bitterly.

They stopped chatting as their leader, Aaron Hotchner entered the room, followed closely behind by the eccentric and loveable Penelope Garcia.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully.

"Rossi and J.J?" Hotch asked as he sat at his desk.

"Right here," Dave Rossi said as he rushed into the room.

Dave Rossi was a dignified member of the group who enjoyed wine and cigars on his time off of work. He lived in a beautiful mansion that he was able to purchase after writing multiple best-selling crime books. While Dave seemed serious, he was really a big softy.

Moments after Rossi's arrival, a cute blonde came running in apologizing for being late.

"Sorry, Henry was throwing up," she said before sitting down in her chair.

"Before we begin, I wanted to let you all know that we found a replacement for Blake's position. She's done a lot of undercover work for the local PD and comes highly recommended for her attention to detail and intuition," Hotch explained to everyone.

He heard a light knock on the conference room door. He walked over and pulled it open. He greeted the young agent with a small head nod. She was around 5'7" with long, thick light brown hair. Her eyes were a sky blue that looked bluer against the dress shirt she was wearing.

"Team this is SSA Chelsea Reese. Agent Reese, this SSA's Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss, Jareau, Dr. Reid, and our tech analysist, Garcia," Hotch introduced.

"Welcome to the family," Garcia said giving the agent a quick hug.

"Thank you," Chelsea smiled as she walked over to take a seat between Spencer and J.J.

"Dave and I will not be going on this case with you. We have been requested to assist a local detective regarding domestic abuse," Hotch stated. "We need to be on the road immediately. I'm leaving J.J. in charge. J.J. keep in touch with me and let me know how everything is going."

J.J. nodded as he and Rossi left the room. All the agents turned to look at her.

"Garcia and I discussed this at length. This is an odd situation, but Hotch gave us approval to go forward," she nodded at Penelope who started the slide show. "This is Keri Derzmond. Two years ago in Atlanta she started receiving notes that meticulously described her whereabouts throughout the day. Local authorities never found out who was responsible. Recently she moved to Maryland … brought the stalker with her."

The team looked on as Derek furrowed his brow. "They think it's the same person?"

Garcia handed photos to the team. "He includes photographs of himself."

They take turns looking at pictures of an arm, an ear, and a chest.

"None of his face. That's very telling. He's either trying to protect his identity or he has self-image issues. He's controlling the parts of the body that he shows to her," Spencer deduced.

Penelope held out a handful of letters to Emily. She picked them up and started to look over them.

"He writes to Keri in these letters about their future together. Having kids, growing old, he believes Keri is in love with him and just doesn't know it yet.

"Ok, so the guy is clearly delusional, but what makes this a BAU case?" Derek asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"He is so obsessed that he tracked her 600 miles away," Penelope said as if that was enough of an answer.

"That is unusual," Spencer agreed. "Typically a stalker will change his focus to another woman if the object of his affection moves away."

"I mean I get that. He's way past the first level escalation but … still," Derek said.

"When Keri received the first letter in Maryland she went to the locals for protection they told her they couldn't help her. This woman is in serious danger," Penelope tried.

"This case is in my hands now and if we do nothing and something happens to her … I'll be the one notifying her family," J.J. said somberly.

Derek looked at the others who all seemed onboard. "Ok," he conceded.

The team arrived in Silver Springs, Maryland within an hour. Derek and Spencer went straight to the Police Department to set up, while J.J, Emily, and Chelsea went to speak with Keri. Spencer and Derek were greeted by Detective Barry. He led them to a conference room to allow them to begin their profiling.

"So we can use this area until something bigger comes along. I set it up just like Agent Jereau requested. Is she coming by the way?" Barry said as they settled in.

"She and our other two agents are at Keri's office," Spencer said.

"Aren't you guys a little over qualified for this case?" He asked frowning. "I mean this guy's no serial killer."

"We can strike behavioral profiles for a variety of investigative scenarios. That includes stalking," Spencer stated matter-of-factly.

"We've seen this kind of thing before and it can get ugly real fast," Derek said looking at the detective.

"I wanted to help this girl the day she came in. I just … I didn't have the man power," Barry said trying to defend himself.

"Listen we know what it's like to be shorthanded. We're just here to help," he said assuring the detective they weren't judging the officers.

Barry nodded feeling better. "Look don't get me wrong. I have a sister Keri's age and if some guy was doing this to her and I got my hands on him … I'd probably get thrown off the force," he said trying to reconnect to the agents.

"You and me both," Derek said.

J.J. looked at her phone as she climbed out of her car as Emily and Chelsea walked up behind her.  
"What was that?" Emily asked looking at her staring at the phone.

"Bureaucratic red tape," J.J. sighed. "Every case we take Garcia and I have to explain why in terms of cost and size relative to the BAU. They don't always think it's worth it."

"They do have five agents doing the work the locals should," Emily defended.

"Just because there isn't a dead body doesn't mean we shouldn't take the case," J.J. said angrily. She couldn't believe Emily was defending those money hungry bureaucrats.

"Hey I … the fact that law enforcement, including the FBI, can't help someone until they've been injured is appalling," Emily said trying to show J.J. she was still on her side. "All I'm saying is it is a drain on the system."

"Emily, last year in Denver a woman was being harassed by her ex-boyfriend cops knew who he was but they couldn't arrest him. We didn't take that case. She was finally granted a restraining order three days after he threw acid in her face. Right now I don't care about limited resources. I cannot make that same mistake again," she said looking her friend in the eye while Chelsea watched.

Emily nodded as J.J. walked into the building. She turned to look at Chelsea.

"Sometimes it's hard not to take these cases personal," she said.

"I would imagine so," Chelsea said showing empathy for J.J.

Emily gave her a half-smile before they went inside to talk with Keri. Once the introductions were finished, they sat down and immediately began with the questions.

"Keri, why the move to Maryland?" Emily asked.

"Ryan lives here and my firm just opened an office. The move wasn't because of the stalker. Although the police back in Atlanta thought it was a good idea. I'm always cautious … but for the first time I felt that if I looked over my shoulder no one would be there," she said choking up.

"We need you to make a list of names of everyone you know. Even acquaintances both here and in Georgia," Emily insisted.

"Ok," Keri agreed.

"Don't forget ex-boyfriends or any indiscretions," J.J. added.

Chelsea sat listening to their questioning.

"Nothing is insignificant," Emily stated.

Keri reached for a pen and a pad of paper. She began writing, but stopped and looked up. "If I knew what I was doing to make this guy so obsessed I would stop."

"When your paths crossed, something clicked with _him_. If you were smiling, he probably thought you were smiling at him," J.J. said trying to soothe her.

"We have no way of knowing what his fantasy is. What we do know is you're the star of it," Emily said.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Keri's secretary entered the room.

"It's Ryan. He says it's an emergency," the woman stated.

Keri grabbed her office phone and put it to her ear. "You ok? Yea, they're here now," her face dropped. She looked up at the agents. "Ryan's at home. There's another card and a box at the door."

Emily shot a look at Chelsea and J.J.

"Tell him not to touch it. We're on our way!" Emily said.


	2. Chapter 2

*Continuation of Season 3, Episode 18: The Crossing*

(XXXXX)

Morgan and Spencer sat at the table looking through files, while Detective Barry sat nearby doing the same thing.

"Ok, when Keri lived in Atlanta initial communication happened at her job. Then they got more personal and started going to her home," Derek said trying to sort out his thoughts.

"The first card is likely an anniversary date of sorts. The first time he saw her, the first face to face meeting," Spencer said looking up from his files.

He jumped up from his seat and began writing on the board.

"He actually wrote the date on the card. March 21, 2014," Barry stated.

"It was Tuesday," Spencer said as he wrote dates on the board. Barry shot him a look of shock and confusion that he pulled up the day without a calendar. He ignored it when Derek showed no surprise at Spencer's statement.

"Ok, so we should probably look at other Tuesdays, previous months on the 21st, and March of 2013. If we can figure out what this date means to the stalker, it could trace his connection back to Keri," Derek said.

(xxxxx)

By now the girls had reached Keri's house. Inside the house they sat with Keri and her fiancée Ryan. Ryan was an average man, with slightly muscular arms and short black hair. He nervously stared at the opened box in front of him. Emily, with gloved hands, picked up the package that was wrapped in floral wrapping paper.

"Here it is. I appreciate you driving Keri home," he said as way of distraction. "Ever since this guy showed up I've been taking her everywhere."

Keri looked at the box and then at the agents. "Would he send something that would hurt me?"

"Probably not, but we don't want to take any chances," Emily stated.

"You really think this guy would do something like that? Even after all this time?" Ryan asked nervously.

"At this point you haven't done anything to provoke him," Emily said hopeful.

Emily slide the lid off the box and pulled out a red velvet case. She popped open the top and saw a pair of earrings. She showed them to Keri.

"It's just a pair of earrings," Chelsea said to Keri.

"They look like antiques," Keri said.

J.J. was reading over the card sent along with it. "Says they were his grandmothers. Family heirloom," she stated.

"He wants to make you apart of his family," Emily told her.

"Well, we have the back of his head now," Chelsea said as she looked at the photo the man included.

"He hopes that … uh … you give him a gift soon too," J.J. said as she looked up from the letter.

"What does that mean?" Keri asked furrowing her brow.

"We should probably get this back to the station and start a trace," J.J. said ignoring the question.

"You can find him that way?" Ryan wondered.

"Uh … first class mail is harder to track, but we'll see," Chelsea told him.

"Officers will be driving by your house periodically looking for anything suspicious and you have my number if anything happens," J.J. said to Keri as she walked off.

"We'll call and let you know if we find anything," Emily assured her.

Keri shook Emily and Chelsea's hands. "Thank you."

Once they were outside and the door was shut J.J. sighed heavily. "His confidence is building and now he wants something. What do you think it is?" she asked Emily and Chelsea.

Chelsea shook her head and shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm scared about what happens when she doesn't give it to him," Emily said as they climbed into the car.

(xxxxx)

Derek walked back into the conference room carrying a list.

"Ok, so every Tuesday Keri's staff has a staff meeting and it's catered by a lot of different restaurants," he said laying the papers down.

Barry nodded, "I'll add it to the list."

Spencer stood looking at the pictures the unsub had taken of himself. Derek noticed the look in his eyes.

"What do you see?" he asked.

"Look at the new photograph Keri received in Maryland. Now look at the old ones from Atlanta. The muscle tones change. The bicep is far more defined," Spencer said.

"Also skin color. He's tan," Derek added.

"Why do we care if he's lifting weights and out in the sun," Barry asked rolling his eyes.

"We're looking at this from a behavioral standpoint. He's making improvements to his appearance and it's likely to impress Keri," Spencer explained.

"What does her fiancée look like?" Derek asked making the detective turn a bit pale.

(xxxxx)

By the next morning, they realized things were getting worse. Now Keri's dog had been stolen right out of her yard, with a police officer stationed outside. Derek and Spencer were facing the board looking at picture of Ryan.

"This guy is definitely trying to mirror Ryan. He's even got the same haircut," Derek said.

"He's trying to replicate what Keri's attracted to," Spencer agreed.

"He starts feeling good about himself … he's gonna find the courage he needs to actually meet her.

Detective Barry walked into the room carrying a picture of the missing dog, Brody. "Charging him with dog nabbing now too?" he said mockingly.

Derek and Spencer looked at one another, getting quite annoyed by the lack of faith and understanding this detective showed.

"Taking the dog might not seem like much to you, but it tell us he's desperately trying to feel close to her. He was bold enough to break into her backyard. Add that to his proven determination and we've got ourselves a serious escalation here," Derek stated.

"I thought he was just messing with her," Barry said shrugging.

Spencer wanted to turn around and slap the stupid off this man's face. He couldn't believe how oblivious he was to this entire process. Instead he took a deep breath and held himself in check.

"Get Keri to put flyers up it may get him to call to return the dog," he told the detective.

"Would he do that?" Barry questioned.

"If he wants to prove how much he cares," Spencer replied.

"Or he won't call if he's jealous of how much attention the dog is getting. If he really believes he is ready to eliminate all of his competition … Ryan could be next," Derek said.

(xxxxx)

Over at Keri's house, the girls were trying to find out more information.

"You think he's got the guts for a confrontation?" Ryan asked nervously.  
"He moved here. He took Brody. He's not going to let anything get in his way," J.J. said.

"He cares about Keri. Maybe he won't hurt her. He hasn't yet," Ryan said more for his benefit.

"And he doesn't want to, but if he feels like he is going to lose her then he will," Emily told him.

"Lose her?"

"He's been rejected his entire life. To escape he built a vivid fantasy world in which someone accepted him," Chelsea explained.

"Me," Keri said barely above a whisper.

"Worst case scenario he gets you alone. In which case it would be important for you to play along with his delusions," Emily said prepping her in case he does get her.

Keri started to feel nervous and leaned into Ryan's arm that he wrapped around her waist.

"You mean like tell him I love him?" she said barely able to utter the words.

"Within reason, do what he wants," Emily said.

"By gaining his trust he will let his guard down and that's when you make your move," J.J. said.

Ryan glanced down at Keri. "Do you think it could come to that?"

J.J. looked at Chelsea and Emily. She didn't want to tell them the truth. The truth was she was sure of it. It was only a matter of time before he got his hands on Keri. She only prayed that they would be able to save her.

"Well … not if we can help it. We are going to have to comb through your life. Ever since he's been a part of it."

"Haven't we already don't that?" Keri frowned.  
"We are talking about each and every moment for the last two years. The answer could be in the smallest detail," Emily said to her.

Keri took a deep breath, but nodded. "Ok."

"Alright, we'll be back in a few hours to talk," J.J. said as they headed back to the station.

(xxxxx)

When they arrived at the office Spencer and Derek were still hard at work creating a profile. They were now surrounded by other officers and detectives who were listening to what they had discovered.

"This man's an incompetent suitor seeking intimacy with a woman unavailable to him. He thinks he's courting his soulmate when in reality he is a total stranger to her," Spencer said to the group.

"He's making some physical improvements, but even if he gets enough confidence together to speak to Keri, she'd find if more like talking to a 12-year old boy," Derek said.

"A very dangerous one. His obsession is heightened by his following her to Maryland and the amount of details in those letters. He writes instead of call which could mean he's afraid of how he'll sound. He might be less educated or have some sort of physical issue like a speech impediment," Spencer said as his eyes caught Chelsea entering the room with J.J. and Emily. He smiled at her and she returned the gesture.

"He wouldn't have written March 21, 2014 in that first letter if that date didn't actually mean something to him," Derek continued.

"Could be the first time he saw her at the bank or the movies. The possibilities are endless," Spencer said feeling the sudden need to impress Chelsea.

"Their paths crossed somewhere in Atlanta. He followed her. So we need to focus on what she's doing here and how she's living. He is watching her."

"His move here means he's committed and unless he's caught he'll never break that commitment," Spencer said as he tried to get the last word.

"Yet if he perceives that she has … we all know that domestic disputes can be some of the most violent," Derek finished.

The detectives and the officers nodded as they filtered out of the room. Chelsea, Emily, and J.J. approached the guys.  
"How's it going?" Emily asked.

"Not great, but we are making headway," Derek assured them.

J.J. picked up her phone. "I'm going to go call Garcia and see if I can find out anything," she sighed as she left the room.

"She's taking this pretty hard," Derek said.

Emily just shrugged as she looked over the board. Chelsea walked over towards Spencer and looked at the files in front of him.

"Mind if I look?" she asked softly.

"Uh … no … sure go ahead," he said as he stepped back.

She brushed into his arm as she went to sit down. He felt a jolt run through him. He ignored it and walked over to pretend he saw something on the board. Just then J.J. walked back in.

"Guys, we need to get back to Keri's house now. Garcia found something in her past that's important," she said.

Emily and Chelsea stood up and followed J.J. from the room. Spencer watched her walk away as his heart skipped a beat. What was it about her that got him all riled up?

(xxxxx)

They arrived at Keri's house within 15 minutes. Once inside, J.J. asked if they could sit somewhere private. Ryan was at the grocery store, so it was the perfect time for them to talk. Keri led them into her family room.

"Keri … why did you go to the clinic last year?" J.J. blurted out.

Keri looked at them in stunned silence.

"We need full disclosure Keri," Emily said in frustration.

"Ryan doesn't know. Back when we were figuring out what this is … if I was moving … I was pregnant and I couldn't … I couldn't have a baby. Not then," she said ashamed.

"That was your decision. You don't have to explain that to anyone," Chelsea jumped to her defense.

"I know. It's just … Ryan's career was taking off … I didn't want to trap him," she said.

Ryan appeared in the doorway with a bag of groceries in each arm. Chelsea and J.J. could see him and tried to get her to stop talking, but she wasn't looking at them. She was staring at her feet.

"I didn't want us to have any regrets," she said when she heard a noise behind her.

Turning in her seat, she spun to see him staring at her. Ryan …"

"Were you ever going to tell me?" He asked in shock as Keri's eyes filled with tears. "I thought you wanted to have kids?" He couldn't process what he had just heard.

"I do," Keri said shaking.

"You didn't think I would drop everything to raise a baby?" he snapped.

Emily buried her face in her hands, while Chelsea turned to look at the photos on the mantle. J.J. tried to look away, but couldn't seem to stop.

"I knew that's exactly what you'd do," Keri cried as tears slipped from her eyes.

"I gotta go," Ryan said as he left the room.

"Wait, Ryan! I'm sorry!" she cried as she ran after him.

J.J. jumped to help, but it was too late. She looked at Emily and Chelsea before plopping back into her chair. She ran her fingers through her hair in anger. She felt like everything was out of control! Ryan stormed outside the house and stopped dead in his tracks. His car windows had been smashed! He looked on in disbelief. The stalker had been here! He'd only been inside the house for no more than 3 minutes.

"Shit!" He said as he leaned over his car.

(xxxxx)

The team sat in the police department reviewing information. J.J. sat looking over some papers while Emily was on the phone.

"Thanks," Emily said as she pulled the cell phone away from her ear. "That was Detective Barry. He just took Ryan's police report. He's got about $500 worth of damage to his car."

J.J. sighed as she laid the papers down on her lap.  
"Hey why are you taking this so hard?" Emily asked as the others looked at her.

"Keri's life has been turned upside down for the past two years and we just come on in and tear it up some more," she said angrily.

"But to catch her stalker we have to ask those questions," Emily said defending the team. "She knew it would be uncomfortable."

"That's an understatement," J.J. quipped.

"J.J. you fought for this case," Spencer said unsure of why she was so upset with them.

"You wanted to help Keri. That's what we are sitting here trying to do," Morgan joined in.

"Then why do I feel like we violated her too?" J.J. said getting up and leaving the room.

Emily looked at the others in stunned silence. She noticed Chelsea's wide-eyed expression.

"She isn't normally like this," Emily assured her.

"I imagine it's a lot of pressure on her. She's the one who chooses who we help," Chelsea said feeling bad for J.J. Spencer nodded at her in agreement before looking back at the photos in front of him. "If you don't mind I'm going to go check on her."

"Sure," Morgan said as he stood up to write something on the board.

Chelsea walked to the entrance of the building and saw J.J. standing outside with her arms folded across her chest. She was staring at the blue sky as the wind blew her blonde hair.

"J.J?" Chelsea said hesitantly.

J.J. turned to face the new agent with a blush on her cheeks.

"Chelsea, I'm sorry. I didn't mean," she began.

"It's ok. I think we all have moments where we feel helpless and like we are causing more pain than assistance," Chelsea said standing next to her.

J.J. couldn't find the words to express how grateful she was that someone understood where she was coming from. She smiled at Chelsea, just as Keri's car came flying into the parking lot. She barely parked before hopping out of her car.

"I saw him! I saw him downtown!" she said running towards J.J. "He was staring at me! He was looking at me from across the street!"

"Whoa, Keri wait slow down," J.J. said holding her hands up in front of her.

"I saw him. I know who he is. I mean I don't know his name, but I've seen him before," she said practically out of breath.

"Come on let's go inside. Chelsea can you get a sketch artist please?" J.J. asked.

Chelsea nodded and rushed off to get someone while they headed back inside. Once Keri was seated in the office and a sketch artist was present she started describing the man.

"I knew I'd seen him before … at my dry cleaners, at a restaurant … I didn't know where else to go," she said feeling the weight of seeing him crash over her.

"Keri, you're gonna get through this. You're strong," J.J. assured the woman.

Derek leaned against the table and nodded at Keri. "You've been smart. You're taking every necessary precautions. You're not helpless Keri. You're prepared and protected," he said trying to ease her fears.

Keri sighed and visibly looked a bit less terrified. "I needed to hear that."

Detective Barry stood watching the entire situation in surprise. He really never thought this would escalate into something. Now here this woman sat shaking in the office after seeing her stalker face to face.

"Sounds like he's going to try to talk to her," Barry said trying to feel like he was helping with the case.

"May be a risky situation for him," Chelsea said to Barry.

"Why him?" Keri interrupted in shock.

"Uh … he's setting himself up for rejection. If he feels anger or ashamed there's a possibility he could turn violent," Spencer said understanding what Chelsea was getting at.

The sketch artist finished with the drawing and held it up for Keri's approval. As soon as she nodded that it was correct J.J. grabbed the picture and walked off. "Alright I'm going to get this picture out." Keri's phone sounded in the now quiet room. She excused herself and walked away.

Derek looked over at Chelsea. "J.J. ok?"

"Yea, she will be … once we get a lead," she said as Keri hung up her phone.

She walked back over to the group. "That was Ryan. He's taking off for a couple of days to clear his head … but he wants to talk first. I'm gonna meet him at the house," she said trying to force a smile.

Chelsea gave her a nod of support.

(xxxxx)

Keri had only been gone from the office 30 minutes when they received a frantic call from Detective Barry letting them know she was missing. When they reached her house, J.J. was the first to jump out.

"What the hell happened?" she asked angrily as she saw a man with Brody talking to a police officer.

"Said some guy in an old brown van paid him fifty bucks to walk the dog up and down the street. Told him to be careful someone in the neighborhood was kidnapping people's pets," Barry said as Ryan walked out the front door of the house.

He headed straight for the waiting agents. Chelsea's heart broke at the look of distress on his face.

"The backdoor is off its hinges. Her cell's still in the house, her wallet. Her purse is on the bed. He just …" he said choking up. "He just took her. I was right here."

Chelsea walked over and placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Let's go," she said directing him back indoors.

"What now?" Barry asked J.J.

"Well he finally got her. He's not about to let her go."

Inside the house Derek was on the phone with Penelope trying to get information about the unsub. They were running a check on brown vans in Georgia, while Spencer looked around the house for any clues to who this man was or where he might have taken her.

"There aren't any vans in Georgia that have been transferred to Maryland. So I'm sending you registrations and ID's from both states. Pictures coming atcha," Penelope said over speaker.

Spencer walked over and looked at the laptop that Derek sat in front of. He looked at the faces on the screen and immediately shot out three names to look into.

"Let's start with Jeffrey Crammer, Chris Geezy, and Mike Hicks."

They could hear the sound of the keyboard being tapped on. "Ok, Crammer works at a grocery store, Geezy is a heating and air tech, and Hicks is on unemployment. But he's an IT guy. Last employed at Legal Grind, a tech support for law firms," she said.

"Keri's a lawyer, he … he might've worked on her computer," Chelsea stated.

"He's got no criminal record and his social is listed at a bank there and the account lists Mike Hicks 404 Lark Lane, Silver Springs," Penelope said.

"Thanks baby girl. Alright, we've got a name and an address," Derek said as he disconnected with Penelope.

"Would he really take Keri to his place?" Detective Barry said in disbelief.

"It's unlikely but we should still check it out," Derek replied.

"Alright, I'll send a cruiser," Barry said shrugging as he walked out of the room.

Ryan ran a hand across his short hair.

"Every second we are here, she's alone with him," he said frustratedly.

"His obsession with Keri defines him. He wants to make her happy. He wouldn't take her to where he wants to go, he'd take her where she wants to go," Chelsea said ignoring Ryan.

J.J. and Emily looked at one another before looking at Ryan.

"Maybe some place that means something to the both of you?" J.J. said feeling they were on to something.

Ryan thought for a moment. "I proposed to her on Chesapeake beach."

"Let's go!" Derek said as they rushed out of the house.

(xxxxx)

They pulled up to Chesapeake beach and strapped their vests on.

"There they are!" Chelsea said pointing to where a man was leading Keri towards the docks.

"Reese and Reid I want you to head towards that building. J.J, you and Emily head over in that direction just before the dock. I'm going to trail behind them," Derek ordered as they all ran to positions.

Chelsea and Spencer crotched down and ran to the location specified to them. When they reached the corner of the building, Spencer peered around to make sure it was safe. He turned and nodded to Chelsea as they walked around the building to hide near the entrance of the closed store. They just reached the spot when Mike and Keri walked into view. Mike immediately spotted Spencer and Chelsea holding their guns out toward him.

Chelsea put her hands up in submission. "Ok, ok. Let's put these away. I just want to talk to you," she said as she lowered her gun to the ground.  
Spencer was shocked that she trusted him that much to cover her. He held his gun steady, ready to shoot if forced. Mike had Keri in a headlock with his gun pressed firmly against her temple.

"Don't make me hurt her," Mike said angrily.

"You don't have to do that. Michael, we don't want to take her away from you. Keri told me she wants to be with you," Chelsea said trying to play to the man's delusions. She shot Keri a look.

"It's true. I'm so happy now," Keri said through a shaking voice. "They think you're gonna hurt me. Put it down so we can be together," she continued as she slid her hand up to touch his. "Where do you want to go first? Umm … we could … we could go back to Atlanta. We could find a little house."

Mike let a smile cross his face as he slowly lowered the gun and put it in his pocket. He smiled happily at Keri, when she suddenly ran straight into Chelsea's arms. Before Mike could react Derek had appeared and tackled the man to the ground.

"How could you do this? After everything I've done for us? They can't keep us apart!" Mike screamed as he was handcuffed and dragged away by Derek.

Chelsea was still holding a sobbing Keri in her arms. "You did great."

Keri pulled back to watch them take him away. She looked at Spencer and Chelsea. "He worked on my computer. That's where I met him."

"It's ok," J.J. said as her and Emily approached them.

Detective Barry appeared and handed over a stack of photos along with a sheet of paper. Emily grabbed it and looked at it.  
"February 21, 2006," she said holding up an invoice. "A month later he sent his first letter. He thought it was their anniversary."

(xxxxx)

On the drive home everyone was quiet. None of them had a moments rest in over 24 hours. J.J. sat in the front passenger seat sound asleep, while Derek drove and listened to music. Emily, Spencer, and Chelsea were playing Gin quietly in the backseat.

"You did a great job for your first case with us," Emily said as she picked up a card from the tray they hooked on the back of the front seats.

"Thank you," Chelsea said as she noticed Spencer nodding in agreement. "So Spence, I heard you can read 20,000 words per minute, what else do I need to know about you?"

"He's got an IQ of 187 and 3 PhD's," Emily said not giving Spencer a chance to answer.

"Wow, a genius huh? You seem awfully young. Does that mean you are one of those prodigy kids?" Chelsea said as she drew a card from the deck and placed a card in the pile.

"Uh, I wouldn't say genius," Spencer said feeling a little twinge of embarrassment at the way she lumped him in as a prodigy. It made him feel like he was weird. He hated the fact that he didn't seem to fit in with society, so it really bothered him when others around him pointed that out.

"Don't be ashamed. You should be proud. I wish I was that smart," Chelsea said staring at her cards.

That made him ease up a little. At least she wasn't teasing him. She thought she was complimenting him.

"You seem very smart to me," Spencer said as he placed his cards down. "Gin."

"Damn it," Emily said dropping her cards onto the tray. "Every time."

Chelsea giggled at Emily as Spencer smirked and raked in the cards with his hands.

"That's it. I'm going to get some rest before we get home," Emily said leaning back in her seat to snuggle in.

"I think I'll follow suit. My eyes are starting to burn," Chelsea said as she rubbed at them with her hands. "I want a rematch soon though," she smirked at Spencer.

"Deal," he said as he, too, leaned back to get some rest.

Chelsea sighed happily as the day's events finally pushed her into a deep sleep.

(xxxxx)

When the car pulled into the parking garage of Quanitco, everyone began waking up from their short sleep. Chelsea felt her stomach grumble, forgetting that she hadn't eaten in hours. Spencer looked down at Chelsea's stomach and grinned.

"Hungry?" he said.  
"Just a bit," she chuckled as she placed her hand on her belly.

"Want to go get something to eat? There's a great diner 5 minutes from here," Spencer said. "They are open 24 hours."

"Sure, that sounds good," she replied grabbing her bag.

"Emily you in?" Spencer asked.  
"No, I'm going home. Sergio is waiting for me," she said.

"Your husband?" Chelsea asked.  
"My cat," Emily grinned.

"J.J.?" Spencer called out.  
"I have to get home. Will and Henry are waiting for me," J.J. said.

"Morgan?" Spencer tried.

"Yea, what the hell. I'll see if Garcia wants in," he said as he parked the company vehicle.

"You want to ride with me? I'll bring you back to your car after?" Spencer said to Chelsea.  
"Uh, sure," she agreed as she followed him to his car.


	3. Chapter 3

Criminal Minds Story Used: Season 6, Episode 12: Corazon

(XXXXX)

The restaurant was empty due the late hour. Spencer and Chelsea sat together on one side of the booth, while Derek and Penelope sat on the other side. They were hungrily eating their meals as they took turns getting to know each other better.

"So when you actually get time off, what do you guys like to do for fun?" Chelsea asked as she took a sip of her chocolate milk shake.

"I act at some local theatres," Penelope said. "Sometimes I write the scripts or help direct the show. It's a lot of fun. I'm currently working on one about a 1950's starlet who goes insane as she grows older and is forgotten by the Hollywood scene."  
"That sounds interesting. I'd love to see it," Chelsea said licking her straw that was covered in chocolate.

"Definitely! I'll let you know!" Penelope said happily.

"So Derek, what do you do? Lift weights? Admire yourself in the mirror?" Chelsea teased.

"Haha, very funny Ms. Joker. I don't have a certain something I do. It changes day to day. Could be playing sports, going to the movies. The normal," he shrugged.  
"Sports, huh? Any particular one more than the other?" Chelsea asked as she bit into a French Fry.  
"Football, basketball, and baseball are my usual's. There's an annual baseball event where the FBI competes against the Secret Service for bragging rights. We lost 5 years in a row, until pretty boy over there hit a home run winning the game for us," Derek said as Spencer turned a deep shade of red.  
"Wow, smart, handsome, and athletic. You have the entire package don't you?" Chelsea said nudging him with her elbow.

Penelope shot Derek a look and grinned. They both saw the admiration in the new agent's eyes as she looked at their young genius friend.

"No, I'm not athletic at all," Spencer replied feeling his face growing hotter by the second.

Had she just said he was handsome? Smart … handsome … yep, she said he was handsome. His mind was reeling at this comment from such a beautiful woman. Surely she didn't mean anything by it. She was just being nice. "And it wasn't a home run technically. I just hit the ball in the outfield and they didn't get it to home plate in time," Spencer corrected.

"Whatever, the point is, we actually won and it's been so much fun rubbing it in their faces ever since," Derek laughed as he took the final bite of his burger.

"When you play again, I'd love to play too. I actually enjoy playing sports. I used to play softball when I was younger," Chelsea said.

Spencer noticed a sadness cross her face momentarily. Something about the memory of that statement brought pain to her. He wondered what that could be. Before he could say anything to her, Derek cut in.

"So Chelsea, you don't seem to be wearing a ring, which means you aren't married," he started.

"Wow, you _are_ a good profiler," she joked. "No I'm not married."

"What about a boyfriend? Any certain man in your life, or lady," Derek asked.  
Chelsea laughed, causing Spencer to feel an odd tingle run down his spine.

"No, no boyfriend and definitely no girlfriend," she replied.

"Do you have family nearby?" Spencer asked, still curious about what caused a momentary lapse in her defenses.

"No family," she said quickly. "Anybody want dessert?"

Penelope glanced at Derek, who was watching Chelsea through prying eyes. Spencer knew he was on to something. Clearly there was a past in regards to her family and she was not at all comfortable talking about it.  
"You just had a milkshake," Spencer said narrowing his eyes at her.

"Psh, that was just something to wash down my burger. I want a piece of that apple pie," Chelsea said pointing to the display case of desserts.  
"I'll have a piece too," Penelope said trying to ease the noticeable tension.

Chelsea shot her new friend a glance of gratitude before getting up to order two pieces of the pie.

(xxxxx)

Spencer pulled up to Chelsea's car and waited as she unbuckled her seat belt.

"Thanks for the ride and for the suggestion to go eat. That place was really good," she said turning to face him.

"You're welcome," he hesitated a moment before finally breaking the silence. "I'm sorry about bringing up your family at dinner. I didn't know it was a sore subject."  
He fibbed a bit as he had an inkling that it was a troubled past. He saw her blue eyes darken a bit as she looked down at her pants.

"It's ok. You didn't know. I just don't really like to talk about my past," she said looking up into his hazel eyes.

He felt his heart skip a beat for a moment. There was something about her that made him feel warm inside. Something he hadn't felt in a long time. He pushed the thoughts away as she was his co-worker and that was all she could ever be.

"Thanks for the ride," she said softly as she grabbed her bag and pushed open the car door.

"See you tomorrow," he replied.

She smiled at him before closing the door and climbing into her own. He pulled ahead of her, but waited until she started the car and pulled away before he left. She smiled as she watched him in the rearview mirror, knowing that he waited to make sure she was safe. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but there was something about Spencer that drew her to him. She had just met him a couple days ago and yet she felt an immediate spark and butterflies when she was around him. She knew this was crazy and told herself that, but sometimes you just can't convince your heart that this person is off limits.

(xxxxx)

A few weeks had gone by and Chelsea settled in nicely with the BAU team. They had solved every one of their cases so far and there were little to no injuries in the process. Chelsea became very close with Emily, spending at least two nights a week with her, whether it was dinner or just wine at the others house. She also spent a lot of time with Spencer and on most occasions, Derek and Penelope tagged along. The more time they spent together, the more Chelsea felt that Spencer might have feelings for her. Though, she never expressed interest and neither did he. It was little things, like glances across the table, accidental touching of the others hand when walking, blushing when they were caught staring at the other. They also seemed to always try and pair up together, sit together on the jet, and drive together when possible. No one else seemed to notice anything, or so they thought.

It had been a tough week at work and everyone was exhausted. Chelsea had decided to stop by Emily's to unwind with some drinks rather than go home and get some rest. While they were talking about the weeks frustrations, Emily surprised Chelsea with a question she hadn't expected.

"So, what's up with you and Reid?"

"I'm sorry?" Chelsea asked as she choked a bit on her wine.

"I've been watching you two. I see the way you look at one another and you stick close to each other during cases," she said before sipping her wine.  
"We work well together. We seem to have the same type of intuition," Chelsea stated.  
"So then what's with the staring at one another when you think no one is looking?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"What? I don't stare at him," Chelsea said defensively.  
"Chels, I saw you watching him today when he got up to get coffee. You watched him leave the room and continued to glance in that direction until he returned," Emily said.  
Chelsea tried to think of an excuse. Some reason to explain why she watched Spencer walking away. When she really knew the reason was she was checking out his butt. The way he walked and his cute butt moved. Then she wondered where he was going and when he'd be back. She hadn't realized she was being that obvious. She felt her skin burning.

"So you do like him," Emily said smiling. "I get it. He's a good looking guy and a sweetheart."

"Ok, I do like him, but it doesn't matter Em. It's not like I'm going to do anything about it. You can't date co-workers."  
"It's not that you _can't_ , it's that it's frowned upon," Emily clarified.  
"Either way, I've only been here a few weeks and I'm not going to fuck it up," she started.  
"To fuck him up," Emily laughed.  
"Emily!"

"What? You know you want to. He's a genius. I bet he knows all the right places to please a woman. He probably read it somewhere. He's probably a god in bed," Emily said getting a daydream look in her eyes.  
"Well, if you think he'd be so good in bed why don't you sleep with him," Chelsea said throwing her napkin at Emily.

"And listen to him ramble on and on about the fun facts of sex. No thank you," she said.  
"Awe, his ramblings are cute," Chelsea said smiling.  
"Ohhhhh, you've got it bad," Emily said as finished off her drink.

Chelsea frowned and finished her wine as well. She wanted to continue to protest, but there was no point. She could lie to herself all she wanted, but the truth was she did like Spencer and a part of her hoped that he liked her too. She didn't want to get in trouble with the BAU or disappoint Hotch, but her ever developing feelings continued to push those concerns further from her mind.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea stood in front of a room full of mirrors and lifted her leg up towards her ear. After holding it for a moment, she let go and did the same stretch with her other leg. When she bent over to touch her toes, the door behind her swung open.

"Hi Ms. Chelsea."

Chelsea peered through her legs and smiled. "Good evening Abigail. How was school?" She asked before sitting down on the floor to grab her toes.

"Boring," the young girl said.

With that the door opened and two more girls walked into the room. They greeted Abigail and Chelsea. Before long the room was filled with 8 tween girls all in various forms of dance gear.

"Ok girls, settle down. We have a lot to learn for the exhibition in January," Chelsea began. One of her kids raised their hands. "Yes Lakeisha?"

"My granny wants to know if you have another ticket for my auntie and cousin?" the girl asked.

"Get with me after class and I'll give you the paperwork," Chelsea said. "Ok, get into your starting positions, we are going to work on the second half of the dance tonight."

The girls all separated into their spaces as Chelsea walked over to the iPod player to start playing music. Before she hit play her cell phone rang. "Girls I have to take this real quick. Maya, can you come to the front of the class and practice the first part of the dance?"

An older girl walk to the front of the class as Chelsea walked out into the hallway.

"Agent Hotchner, hi," she said nervously.

"Agent Reese, sorry to bother you, but I need you in the office immediately. We have a case that needs our attention," her superior said.

"Yes, sir. I'm on my way," she responded.

After hanging up the phone she rushed off to get the sub into her class before racing out to her car.

Chelsea hurried into the office and dropped down into her seat trying to catch her breath.

"You seem winded baby girl. What were you up to?" Derek asked as she took a swig from her water bottle. Her hair still up in a messy ponytail.

"Dance class," she responded.

"Aren't you a little old to be in a dance class?" he teased.  
"First of all, you are never too old to dance cue ball. Second, I'm the teacher not the student," she said as she tossed a rolled up paper ball at him.

Suddenly Spencer rushed into the room, which caused Emily to look up from her tablet. "Hey, you ok?"

Spencer lifted his bag over his head and dropped heavily into his chair, avoiding eye contact with everyone. "Yea, why?" His tone sounded aggravated, which caused Morgan to look up at him.

"You're never late," he stated matter-of-factly.

This banter had caught the attention of Hotch, who now looked up to assess the situation.

"Have we started the briefing yet?" Spencer asked as he flipped open the file in front of him. Still avoiding looking at anyone.

"Just about to," Penelope said as she took her spot at the head of the table.

"Then I'm not late," he snipped.

Penelope looked at him for a moment in stunned silence. "Oh … well …" She quickly rebounded. "Attention intrepid BAU adventurers. Land of Bermuda shorts, white leisure suits, and sansabelt slacks request your presence."

"Vegas?" Rossi guessed.

"Arizona?" Morgan chimed in.  
"Palm Springs!" Emily called out as if she was certain she had the correct answer.

"Please," Hotch said looking up to silence the group.

"I was gonna say Miami, but point well made about the dizzying number of locales with unfortunate fashion tendencies." She took a deep breath and aimed the remote behind her to start the slide show. "Here we go."

The first picture appeared of a dead man whose mouth and eyes were covered by seashells.

"Shells in the eyes and mouth? You don't see that every day," Emily said.

"Not even in Miami," Rossi replied.

Penelope began to show the victims along with their death photos as she filled them in on the information she'd received. "Three victims, last one found with a …" She made a face not wanting to say it.

"A decapitated cat?" Morgan finished for her.

Penelope nodded.

"All were found within a mile of each other in a mostly Latino neighborhood in Miami called Allapattah," Hotch interjected.

"Eduardo Guzman. He was shot to death 7 days ago. Yanira Espinal. Prostitute found bludgeoned to death 3 days ago. Then Victor Cabrerra. He was an unemployed janitor. He was slashed with a machete … yesterday … as was his cat." Penelope said going through each victim and their photos.

"Ya know considering the homeless man lived in that alley all of the victims essentially were killed in their homes," Rossi said as he studied the photos.

Morgan nodded and showed Hotch his tablet. "This took some time."

"In the open," Hotch agreed.

"Ya know, cowrie shells in ritual offerings are common to a number of Afro-Caribbean religions," Spencer said as he tried to ignore the pounding in his head.

"But the upside down cross looks like Satanism," Emily said as she pointed to one of the photos.

They all stared at the different photos trying to find some sort of clue to who might be behind these gruesome murders.

"First two victims had fingers missing, but on this one he took both hands," Morgan said.

Chelsea had been quietly listening to everyone toss around thoughts and ideas. She finally felt a need to speak up.

"All of this could've been religious?" she said not totally convinced.

"This could have specific religious meaning or it could just be part of the unsubs nature," Spencer replied to her.

She looked in his direction, but he was still staring down at the file in front of him. Something seemed off about him. He was quieter than normal and it seemed like when he spoke he was talking carefully as if he was in pain.

"Either way his time table is accelerating. We have a day, maybe two before the Miami PD has another body on its hands. Wheels up in 30," Hotch said as they all stood from their chairs.

Chelsea was going to go talk to Spencer, but he rushed from the room before everyone else had even finished gathering their belongings. She glanced around the room, but no one else seemed to notice. She wouldn't say anything for now, but she was going to keep an eye on him for sure.


	4. Chapter 4

Continuation of Season 6, Episode 12: Corazon

(XXXXX)

45 minutes later the plane was in the air flying towards Miami, Florida with the team gathered together to discuss the case further. They still didn't feel they had a solid lead to follow and needed to toss around more thoughts. Emily was sitting next to Morgan facing Rossi and Chelsea, while Hotch sat across from them. The only one who distanced himself was Spencer. He was sitting on the couch underneath one of the flat screen TV's closest to the kitchenette.

"The first victim was frail and an easy target … and yet the unsub shot him from behind and at a distance," Hotch said confused.

"For the second victim the unsub chose not to use a gun anymore," Morgan added.

"He got up close and personal," Rossi stated.

"Four days is a rapid increase in confidence," Morgan said looking at the group with concern.

"The third victim he was comfortable enough to use a machete," Emily said.

"But still from behind," Hotch said trying to find the reason for this.

"So he's not invested in watching his victims suffer," Chelsea offered.  
"Which fits what the ME said about the mutilations being in post mortem," Rossi agreed with Chelsea.

She smiled at him as he gave her a well-done pat to her knee.

"So we're back around to religious rituals?" Emily sighed.

Hotch turned his attention to Spencer. "Reid?" Spencer was caught off guard by the sound of his name being called.

"Hmm?" He said as pain coursed through his entire body. He felt nauseous and lightheaded. It took a moment for his eyes to stop seeing double.

"Anything helpful?" Hotch asked as he furrowed his brow at Spencer. He could tell something was wrong with his agent. He just wasn't sure what yet.

Spencer frowned and looked down at the book on his lap. He pushed down the urge to vomit and forced himself to focus on the case. "Yea … yea … ummm." He cleared his throat and scooted closer to the team. "The … ummm … Afro-Caribbean syncretic religions began when slaves mixed their traditional religions with Catholicism in order to camouflage them. The … ummm … elements," he began as he flipped through his book. "In this alter look to me like Santaria." He opened his file and pulled out two photos to pass around. "It's a Yorubian based religion developed in Cuba. Practioners worship orishas, deity's that roughly correspond to Catholic Saints." Spencer explained to everyone.

Chelsea felt better when she listened to him ramble on these facts that most people never heard of. It showed that though something might be wrong it wasn't enough to keep him from memorizing facts and being able to share them with the group.

"And what about the shells?" Derek asked Spencer.

"Let's see," Spencer said as he flipped through a book and handed it to Derek. "This is Elegua, deity of the crossroads. Trickster and the impartial enforcer of justice."

"So is the unsub sacrificing the victims to him?" Chelsea asked.

"None of these religions openly call for a human sacrifice only animals," Spencer said before walking off.

"We need to determine whether these killings are part of an existing ritual," Rossi said, while Hotch watched Spencer walk off.

He was extremely concerned about his behavior. "Or if he's using religion to cover his on psychopathology," Hotch added.

Spencer stood in the kitchenette pressing his middle finger against the bone between his nose and left eye. He was trying to regain focus, but he felt like collapsing on the floor.

"Well the last victim used to frequent a local community center. Might be a good way to get some background," Morgan said to Hotch.

"Good, take Reid and Reese with you. Prentiss and I will go to the last crime scene. Dave I want you to get set up at the PD," Hotch said to everyone.

They all settled in to relax for the remainder of the flight. Chelsea noticed Spencer still hanging out in the kitchen. He hadn't moved from the spot he was in. She stood up and walked towards him.

"This the line?" she teased.

Spencer jumped and let go of his face, "hmm?" He turned to face her. She noticed that his eyes were out of focus and the bags under his eyes were darker than normal. Maybe he was just tired.

"Uhhh for coffee. Sorry," she apologized.

"Oh no. No. Sor .. uhh … umm … just thinking," he stuttered.

"Aren't you always?" she joked again hoping to see his smile.

He gave her a half-hearted attempt at a smile. "Yea." He started to walk away, but turned back to face her. "Hey what's the uh … weather like in Miami right now?" He hoped it wouldn't be sunny. His brain couldn't handle another inch of light.

"I don't know exactly, but my guess … 75 and sunny," she said.

His heart sunk at her response. Though he knew that all along, he still hoped maybe there was a late season hurricane or something that might make it cloudy. Chelsea watched him walk back to his seat and plop down. Something was definitely wrong with him, but she didn't know how to approach him with her concern.

(xxxxx)

Hours later Spencer, Chelsea, and Derek walked through a small, crowded street. From the looks of the area it was an underprivileged part of society. The residents watched as they walked by, immediately noticing that they were out of place in this neighborhood. Spencer stood in between Derek and Chelsea not saying a word. He stared at the ground and wore black sunglasses, which was unusual for him.

"Hey what's the matter with you?" Derek said a little too abrasively to Spencer. "Not gonna give me a bunch of facts about the area and demographic?"

Chelsea shot Derek a look, but said nothing. She waited to see what Spencer would say.

"The Allapattah neighborhood is named after the Native American word for Alligator," he said with no enthusiasm. He just wanted to be left alone.

"There you go. There's the kid I know," Derek said clearly not paying attention to Spencer's attitude. Chelsea wanted to smack his oblivious bald head. "Alright 5372 Seminole Street." He looked at the building in front of him. "This can't be it."  
They all looked around before Spencer walked over to man butchering an animal.

"Excuse me sir. Do you know where the community center is?"

"It's down there. This is Seminole Alley," the man said as he pointed the way.

Suddenly the man picked up a pan that shot the suns reflection straight into Spencer's eyes. He threw his hands to his eyes and squinted behind the glasses. He felt a wave a nausea run through him and felt the world start to move around him. He felt dizzy and tried to regain focus. Chelsea put her hands on his back and rubbed it gently.

"Reid you alright?" Derek asked before Chelsea could say anything.  
Spencer turned from the table pretending he was alright. "Yea, yea. I'm fine. A lot better than that goat." He said as he walked away.

"Yea, you got that right," Derek agreed.

Chelsea was stunned at Derek's oblivion. That was his best friend, how did he not realize something was terribly wrong with Spencer. She stormed off behind them trying hard to stay focused and not cause a scene.

Spencer walked into the community center and immediately went to the receptionist who sat filing her nails. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Can I help you sir?" she asked as she popped her gum.

"My name is Dr. Spencer Reid, this is SSA's Derek Morgan and Chelsea Reese," he said showing her his credentials. "We were hoping to speak with someone in regards to the recent death of one of your frequent visitors Victor Cabrerra."

The girl's smile faded. "Oh my, he was such a sweet man. We are all devastated to hear of his untimely passing. If you go into the cafeteria, you'll find a gentleman by the name of Jimmy Mercado. Him and Victor were inseparable," she said. "He always carries his Chihuahua, Peanut, with him."

Spencer thanked her and walked off towards the cafeteria. When they stepped inside he felt himself getting lightheaded again so he sat down at the nearest table and started opening up his files as if this was his plan all along. Chelsea looked at Morgan who shrugged and walked over to the lunch line where he saw Mr. Mercado talking to some of the workers.

"Excuse me gentleman for interrupting. Sir are you Jimmy Mercado?" Derek asked.

"Yes, who is asking?" the man with a heavy accent asked.

"I'm Agent Morgan and this is Agent Reese with the FBI. We are investigating the murder of your friend Victor Cabrerra," Derek said. "Would you mind sitting with us for a few moments? We have some questions we'd like to ask you?"

Mr. Mercado agreed and followed the agents to the table where he was introduced to Spencer. He sat down opposite of Derek and Spencer, while Chelsea took a seat next to him.

"Victor was my best friend. We were like brothers," he said sadly.

"We're sorry for your loss Mr. Mercado," Chelsea responded.

"He was sick for a long time, but he was finally feeling better," Mr. Mercado said with frustration.

"He was sick?" Derek said in shock.

"His men's part," Mr. Mercado said as he pointed down and glanced at Chelsea with embarrassment. "Down there. De cancer." He pulled a necklace out from his shirt and kissed it superstitiously.

"Where was he being treated?" Spencer asked.

"No, no, no. Not doctors. They don't do nothing, but make you worse!" He said adamantly. "Throw radiation at you. Poison you. He gets cleaning every day. That's why he was feeling better."

"What do you mean by cleaning?" Spencer asked furrowing his brow.

"They clean his head. His body," he starts to explain.

They thanked him for the information, when Derek noticed a black man in the kitchen staring him down. Getting up from the table he wandered over to the gentleman to ask him questions, while Spencer and Chelsea stayed at the table. Spencer started gathering up his files when a woman across the room caught his attention. She was staring at him with a look of concern as she rushed to get away from the room. He couldn't figure out why she seemed afraid of him.

(xxxxx)

The team decided to call it a night, but Spencer stayed at the office a while longer as he was engrossed in his reading. He was staring at the book in front of him reading at his normal pace, when he felt a headache coming on again. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes he saw a circle shape on the ceiling and suddenly he started to see one of the religious shapes appearing on it. He saw the circles, the crosses, and the arrows and suddenly without warning all sorts of pictures from the case flew through his mind's eye. He felt overwhelmed by it and suddenly heard a loud sound that snapped him out of it. Sitting up in his chair he looked around before leaning back over his book.

"Spence?"

He looked up to see Chelsea walking towards him. She was carrying a brown bag.

"I thought you might be hungry," she said as she placed the bag in front of him. "It's Chinese food. I hope you like it."

He attempted to smile at her through the pain. "Thank you," he said in a soft voice.

"Sure. How are you doing?" she asked. He looked up at her with annoyance in his pained eyes. "With the case." She clarified pointing at the book in front of him.

He sighed. "Not great. There's little information and what I do have isn't helpful at all. Nothing seems to go together or make sense."

"Maybe you should take a break for the night. Give your brain a chance to relax," she said.

He looked up at her trying to read if she knew he was suffering from headaches. She smiled at him as she sat down on the edge of the desk. "You look exhausted. Get some rest. Nothing we can do anymore tonight."  
He realized she was just being nice and was unaware of his pain. He nodded and smiled back at her.

"Yea. Um, thanks … for the dinner. That was nice of you," he said closing the books and stacking them on the table.

"Oh, you're welcome. It was nothing," she downplayed. "You want a ride back to the hotel? I'm heading back there now," she offered.

"Sure, thank you," he said getting up and grabbing his dinner and satchel.

"Anytime," she said walking ahead of him.

(xxxxx)

The next morning Spencer, Derek, and Chelsea headed to local community college to interview a religions expert, Professor Hollis Walker. Derek approached the secretary and showed her his credentials.  
"I'm here to speak with Professor Walker," he stated.

The young man stood up and led them towards the professor's office. "The professor has a morning class but he'll be with you shortly," he said before closing the door behind them. Chelsea thanked the man as Spencer and Derek surveyed the office while they waited for his arrival.

Spencer, of course, headed straight for the bookcase. As he glanced over the titles he saw one that caught his eye. "Never seen a first edition Tractatus before."  
While they continued to look, Derek's phone rang. He looked down to see that it was Hotch calling.  
"Yea Hotch."  
"We've got another one."  
"Well that didn't take long," he sighed.  
"Jimmy Mercado friend of the last victim."  
This stopped him in his tracks. His blood ran cold as he turned his attention back to Spencer and Chelsea. "Jimmy Mercado? Wait a minute. Guys isn't Jimmy Mercado the shaved ice man?"  
"Yea," Spencer replied looking at Chelsea in shock.  
"Hotch we just interviewed this guy yesterday," Derek said.  
"Alright so anyone talking to us could be at risk. We'll send photos."  
He hung up his cell phone.  
"Mercado was killed?" Chelsea asked in disbelief.  
"Psychopathic hubris. This unsubs success is making him feel invincible," Derek said realizing how quickly this was escalading.  
Before they could discuss this new information further Professor Walker came through the office door. "Hi. Sorry I'm late. The lady that called said you were investigating these murders we've been seeing on TV. Awful. Just awful. So how can I be of assistance?" He asked as he placed his books down on his desk.  
"Well we were hoping you could help us analyze these," Derek said as he handed over the file, Chelsea had been carrying.  
Professor Walker startled at the picture in front of him. He looked back at each of the agents with what looked to be disgust in his eyes.  
"They are difficult to look at even when you are used to them," Spencer said gently, hoping it would help the professor push through and help them. It seemed to do the trick, because Professor Walker took a deep breath and looked back at the pictures.  
"Oh, well you have several different religions manifesting here. Most of these are from Santaria healing rituals, but the upside down crucifix and the chalk drawings they are from a much darker religion unbaptized Palo Mayombe." Derek handed him his tablet. "Is that a dog?" The professor said trying to swallow the photo before him.  
"He ate a Chihuahua," Spencer blurted out.  
Chelsea had to purse her lips together and duck her head to keep from giggling. The photo itself wasn't funny, but Spencer's lack of filter was quite amusing.  
"Does that mean anything to you professor?" Derek asked glossing over Spencer's comment.  
"Santara's don't sacrifice house pets but there are Palo Mayombe rituals that will use dogs. Palo is a secretive religion very hard to research. Mine will be the first academic work on the subject," he said proudly.  
"Earlier you called it dark but aren't all the African syncretic religions amoral. I mean, they can use good or evil depending on the practitioner right?" Spencer asked.  
This caused the professor to visibly stiffen. He seemed threatened and almost annoyed with Spencer's question and knowledge. "They're nature religions. Nature knows no right or wrong. Only balance or imbalance."  
"So what makes Palo darker than other religions?" Chelsea asked trying to smooth the tension.  
"All others achieve their goals by pleasing the Orishas. Palo's the only one that harnesses the spirits of the dead to accomplish its ends. This is an Nganga the primary tool of a Paleros, a Palo priest. Now at its core is the Nkisi, the spirit of the deceased who inhabits it and the many Paleros believe that the fresher the brain in the skull, the more powerful the Nganga is," the professor explained. He seemed to gain back his pride at being the most knowledgeable again.  
"So what are you saying? This actually calls for human sacrifice?" Derek asked confused by what he was listening to.  
"No, no, no. Not at all. Usually a fresh brain means digging up a recent grave or getting one through donation. I've never heard of a Paleros killing to obtain one," Professor Walker said honestly.  
"This may be a first," Derek said as he pulled up another photo on his tablet and handed it back to the professor. "Does anything look out of place to you?"  
"Outside the human head it all seems fairly traditional," the professor said.  
"Well he cut off the victims tongue and put it in a dish. Does that have some kind of ritual meaning?" Derek said as he pulled up that picture for the professor to see.  
"It may be a sacrifice to Elegua. A silence informant's use to people who talk to outsiders but usually you use a cow tongue."  
"Let me ask you this, all of the victims either had hands or fingers removed," Spencer tossed in the fact as he sat down in one of the open chairs.  
"That's not good. He may be building a deity that some call the devil. It requires finger bones from seven different corpses."  
Spencer furrowed his brow as he thought about this information. "So far he only has four," he said slowly.

(xxxxx)

"I want to go talk with the gentleman I spoke to at the soup kitchen. The receptionist told me his name was Julio," Derek said to Hotch.

"Take Reid and Reese with you," he said.

Derek grabbed the two agents on his way out the door. They drove in silence towards the community center where they were told Julio was holding a ritual. Spencer and Derek entered the room first, with Chelsea coming up behind them. She stuck close to Spencer as she felt uneasy with what she was witnessing. To her surprise, Spencer put his hand behind his back to pull her closer to his body for protection. The room was full of people chanting something, screaming in religious glory, and sacrificing of a Rooster. Without thinking Chelsea buried her face in Spencer's back when she saw the knife cut the bird. Spencer glanced at her, but she felt him grab her hand and hold it tightly. With that, the gentleman holding the ceremony spotted the agents and stopped to stare at them angrily.

"We are with the FBI we aren't here to cause any trouble," Derek assured them. "Sir please put that knife down."

Chelsea removed her head from Spencer's back and peered over his shoulder to watch what was happening. After a moment, the man named Julio, dropped the knife. He approached Derek. "This is a house of God you have no right to be here."

"We just would like to ask you some questions. We'd appreciate it if you'd come with us voluntarily. We're not here to create a spectacle," Derek said hoping to keep the situation calm.

Julio stared intently at Spencer during this conversation. Spencer was taken off guard by the man's glare, but he found he couldn't look away. There was something in his eyes that kept them connected. Chelsea watched the stare off with concern.

"I will go with you," the man said aloud, but truly to Spencer.

They all head out of the community center and begin walking towards the SUV. Spencer lingered in the back when he suddenly stopped at something that caught his eye. He slowly lifted his sunglasses and stared a small house, with a gate that was blowing in the wind. With each breeze the locked gate made a loud metal on metal clinking sound. Something felt important about this building. It reminded him of the building in the vision he was having. He heard Chelsea call out his name, so he lowered his glasses and walked off telling no one of his feeling.

(xxxxx)

Back at the police department, the team discussed who should talk with Julio and what they should talk about. Derek volunteered, but Spencer insisted that he go in alone because he felt that Julio was speaking directly to him at the community center. He felt they had a rapport and he had a better chance of getting information out of him. Hotch agreed as, he, Chelsea and Derek stood facing the interrogation room to watch.  
Spencer entered the room, "My name is Dr. Spencer Reid." He opened up his folder and began laying out pictures from the crime scenes. "Did you know these people?"

Julio looked over each picture without flinching and looked back up at Spencer. "They are my godchildren. They all came to me to be healed."

"You healed them?"

"You think I killed them. The seings don't use human sacrifice. That is a man's sickness," Julio said angrily.

"Maybe it's not about sacrifice. Maybe it's about using body parts to build an Nganga," Spencer suggested.

"What do you know about Palo?" Julio said in surprise.

They stared at each other for a moment, before Julio leaned forward in his chair to be closer to Spencer's face. "This light … it's no good. It gives you a headache," he said as if reading Spencer's mind.

This caught Spencer off guard and he suddenly felt another powerful headache starting. He felt the crippling stabbing pains and suddenly the visions of the case ran through his mind again. He blinked furiously to get rid of them.

Behind the mirror Chelsea gave Hotch a worried glance. Instead of him easing her mind, with a 'don't worry look', she saw that he, too, was deeply concerned about Spencer's odd behavior. Derek stood behind them on the phone with Penelope when he got some more information regarding Julio's past. He took that information and burst through the doors. Spencer turned toward the sound, but looked back at Julio despite his fear of the man.

Derek angrily held up a crime photo from La Machette. A bloodied body was massacred in the photo. "Does that remind you of your youth? It's a pretty ugly thing to be involved in. Did you help or did you just watch?"

While Derek started his own interrogation, Spencer and Julio didn't break eye contact. Suddenly Julio began tapping his fingers on the table rhythmically.

"Is that what you call religion? What kind of man does that to another man? Not a man of faith?"

Spencer began to feel uneasy. He wanted to leave the room, but felt stuck by some odd force. Without warning, Julio started to chant. He still kept eye contact with Spencer. Neither blinking. When Julio seemed to be finished, Spencer walked out of the room with Morgan. Chelsea, a detective, and Hotch were staring at him.

"What the hell was that?" the detective asked as he broke the silence.

"I think we just witnessed a classic case of transpossession. Uh, it's a form of religious hysteria. He whole heartedly believes that he's being occupied by some sort of deity," Spencer said looking back at the interrogation room window.

"He … he wasn't faking it?" the detective stuttered.

"Mmm mmm," Spencer said.

"Up close you can see physiological signs. His body actually changed in response to the belief," Derek verified.

"There have been a lot of studies about this phenomenon there was one case where an 80 year old woman was able to lift a grown man above her head and she believed she was occupied by her saint," Spencer explained.

"Detective did you understand what he was saying at the end?" Hotch asked.

"Look I'm a Puerto Rican Catholic … that grew up in Orlando. That wasn't any language I've ever heard."

"I remember the words, I'm sure he'll be able translate for me," Spencer said wanting to go back inside. He wanted answers and for some reason he felt those answers were more about him and not about the case.

"You sure?" Hotch asked with concern.

"That I remember them?" Spencer said.

"That you want to go back in," Hotch clarified.

"Yea."

Spencer rushed off without giving them anymore time to change his mind.

"Is he alright?" Hotch asked Derek and Chelsea.

Chelsea bit at the side of her finger nervously. She didn't believe so, but being new she didn't really have a lot of room to speak on his behavior.

"Yea, I think so. But something weird was definitely going on in there," Derek said thinking that his uneasiness was probably why Spencer was acting odd.

Back in the room Spencer sat back down in front of Julio.

"What happened?" Julio immediately asked.

"You have no recollection?"

"I remember talking about the lights."

"You were talking about lights and then you were talking about headaches," Spencer explained.

"That was my saint, Elucualegua. He spoke to you, what did he say?"

Spencer spoke the foreign words back to Julio.

"You have a bad Egun on top of you that is spoiling your head," Julio translated.

Spencer spoke another sentence.

"Go clear them quickly."

"What are Egun?" Spencer asked.

"Spirits of the dead."

"Why would you say…" Spencer began, but was interrupted.

"I didn't," Julio stated.

"Well why would your spirit saint say they are spoiling my head?" Spencer reworded.

"Now that's a question only you can answer." Spencer noticed that Julio seemed to be aware of something. He looked off to the corner of the room just over Spencer's shoulder. "Something's wrong. Can you feel it?"

"Yea four people are dead and it may be the fifth one's safe with you in here," Spencer said, annoyed that he didn't understand what was happening.

"No he's not. Someone's about to get hurt. Listen with your heart. Not your head."

At this point Derek entered the room again. Spencer deflated a little at the interruption, but sat back in his chair to listen.

"Your helper? The kid that took over your ritual when we brought you in here," Derek said without a moment of time lapse.

"Elian," Julio said.

"My associates just found salwa heroin in his room and Nganga," Derek stated as he waited for Julio to talk more.

"Where is he?" Julio said with fear in his tone.

"He's running."

Julio jumped to his feet as if ready to run from the room.

"Hey calm down," Derek ordered.

"Please I've got to find him. He's got nobody but me," Julio panicked.

"Do you think it's possible the Elian is our Paleros?" Spencer asked trying to get Julio to relax.

"No. No he's a good kid."

"Then why did he run?" Derek snapped.

"He must be using again. His mama and papa were junkies. I took him in and got him clean. Taught him right from wrong. Please I've got to find him before he gets hurt," Julio said.

"The entire police force is out there looking for him," Derek replied, hoping to ease Julio's worry.

"He's on the streets. He's going to go so far under he's going to be gone for good. I'm your best chance to find him," Julio pleaded.

"You know you can't protect him if he did this," Derek said crossing his arms across his chest.

"I'm not protecting him."

"Then what are you not telling us?" Spencer said as his eyes begged Julio to talk. He believed that Julio was innocent. They just needed more from him than what he was offering up.

"If you wanna help Elian you're going to have to give us something that we don't know," Derek said.

"I'll answer your wishes to help us find this killer," Julio agreed. He reached across the table and grabbed the bottle of water he had been offered earlier. He dumped some of the water onto his head and began chanting. Soon he tossed the water all around him including the walls, the floor, the table. "Your wishes are with us now."

"Ok, we have four victims all with cowrie shells in their mouths and eyes," Spencer began.

"Elegua is called to find justice," Julio said.

"Two of the victims had their fingers cut off. One had both hands removed and one had his head left on the singh, but the brain was missing," Derek said.

"They took the brain, but left the head?"

"The head was left at the crime scene," Derek reiterated.

"Nah, that is not Palo. A Paleros would not leave the head," Julio stated.

Spencer looked at him quizzically before digging through the photos. He showed him a picture of the tongue.

"He also left the tongue," Spencer added.

"There is no use in the religion for a tongue that is not pierced with needles. Means nothing just to put a tongue in a dish. Elian is an angry child, but he would not do this. Please let me find him before it gets worse," Julio pleaded again.

Derek sighed and walked off out of the room, holding the door open for Julio.

"Thank you for your help," Spencer said as he began cleaning up his file. Before Julio left the room, he stopped next to Spencer and said softly, "your head is splitting because of ghosts. You think you can do this work day in and day out and you don't carry it with you? It's eating your soul." With that Julio walked off leaving Derek staring at Spencer in confusion.

"Ghosts?" Derek asked.

Spencer made a face of fake confusion and walked quickly out of the room.

Xxxxx

The entire team met in the police station to discuss what they knew about the case so far. They all felt frustrated and stuck.

"Alright so what do we got?" Hotch asked the team, hoping to start the brainstorming.

"A lot of evidence pointing to Elian Morales," Emily sighed.  
Spencer listened quietly as he allowed their words to float in his mind. There had to be connection.

"Too much," Derek said in reply to Emily.

"Fits the profile perfectly," Chelsea added, not convinced that was a good thing.

"Too perfectly, like every step was planned," Rossi agreed.  
"There are no fingerprints, but a single sneaker print," Emily said.

"And that sneaker turns up in the kids room," Rossi chimed in.

"Maybe somebody's framing Elian, but who?" Hotch stated.

They were still missing a piece of the puzzle. Elian was definitely being set up, but who would want to do that to him. It wouldn't be Julio. He cared too much for the boy.

"Someone with enough intelligence and control to set up a very convincing trap," Derek suggested.

"Somebody we've met. He's probably been watching us all along," Hotch said as he nodded at Derek's theory.

"He began his killing for game of some sort, but his enjoyment of killing is beginning to disrupt his organization," Rossi deduced.

"He's demanding attention. Maybe that's his game," Chelsea suggested.

"Well, he got it. From the media, from the public, us," Emily said rolling her eyes.

"That's it media attention! But … but not for the killings. For the religion. Chelsea, Morgan Professor Walker is about to publish a book on Palo Mayombe. We showed him the photo of the fourth victim's tongue in the dish and he didn't say it wasn't right. I mean he of all people should know that didn't fit any ritual," Spencer said as the light finally went off in his brain. It was all finally making sense to him. He was able to figure it out through the headache.

"That a Paleros would've taken the head," Derek said remembering Julio's words.

"But he wants us to believe that Elian's a Paleros and these are religious killings," Spencer finished.

"And he did his research in the community. He would be known and accepted," Hotch confirmed with their original profile.

"He knows the rituals inside out," Chelsea confirmed.

"Maybe he gave the idol to the kid, pretending to train him as a witch doctor," Rossi thought out loud.

"If Elian was angry with Julio he may have been looking for another father figure," Emily suggested.

"Elian was easy prey," Chelsea said feeling bad for the young boy.

"What better way to get publicity than a series of murders," Emily said shaking her head angrily.

Derek had stepped off to the side and contacted Penelope.

"Yea Garcia, get us everything you can on Professor Walker's background."

"And an address," Hotch called out.

"Got that?"

"Lets go! We'll take the house. Morgan, Reese, and Reid take the office," Hotch said as they rushed from the room.

When they got in the SUV, Spencer hopped into the backseat, allowing Chelsea to sit in the front seat with Derek, who was driving. As they pulled out on to the road, they connected with the other vehicle and Penelope as she read off the information she had found about Hollis Walker. When she began relaying information regarding childhood injuries, it caught Derek and Spencer's attention.

"Well two spiral fractures are unlikely to be accidents," Derek said.

"Put that together with the mother's suicide, I think we are looking at an abusive father," Spencer said as he slid lower into his seat. He couldn't wait for this case to be over. Between the headaches, the weird things happening between him and the people of this town, now talk of abuse. He was ready to be done.

10 minutes later, Derek pulled into the college parking lot. The team jumped from the car and hurried to the building. The sun had nearly set as they ran up the stairs and pounded on the door to the building. A janitor saw them and stared in their direction. Chelsea and Derek both lifted their credentials and placed them up to the glass window. The janitor nodded and walked over to unlock the door.

"Thank you sir. We are heading to Professor Walker's office," Derek explained as the rushed towards his office. One by one they entered the office with their guns held out in front of them. Seeing an empty office, they all put their weapons down by their side.

Derek's phone began to ring.

"Hotch?"

"Professor's not at his house. You got anything?"

"Nah, there's no one here either. We're gonna look around," Derek stated.

Spencer browsed the office when a family photo of the professor caught his eye. He lifted it up and stared at the photo. It made him sad to see the sweet young professor's smiling face and the anger in his father's eyes. It reminded him of his childhood.

"Guys neighbors reported a disturbance at the soup kitchen," Chelsea said as she looked at a text she just received.

"Let's go Reid," Derek called as he followed Chelsea out of the office. Spencer looked at the photo one more time before putting it down and following them out the door.

The team headed into Julio's home, where Elian had been staying, with their guns drawn. They didn't see anything except for a bloody trail. Derek and Spencer ran up the stairs to check the rooms. Spencer pushed the door open to Elian's room and looked around. He heard Derek yell clear. "Clear," he hollered back.  
Derek joined him in the room. "I'm going to go back downstairs and see what's going on."

"Ok, I'll stay up here. I want to look around his room," Spencer stated as he opened up a drawer and peered inside.

Derek nodded and left him to look. After finishing with the drawers he stood up to look somewhere else when he felt an intense headache coming again. The stabbing pains nearly brought him to his knees. He felt dizzy and nauseous, so he moved over to the bed to sit down. He placed his hands over his face as he tried to control the feeling rushing through his aching brain. He started to feel hot, faint, and trapped in his FBI vest. He ripped it off frantically and threw it to the floor as he rubbed at his face again. Once again he began to hallucinate and see visions from the case rushing through his mind. The words of Julio. The dead goat. The house. He stopped rubbing his eyes and peered ahead of him. Slowly standing up he grabbed a photo of the old house sitting on one of the dressers. It was clip from a newspaper that

talked about a foster home celebrating its third year anniversary. Spencer looked out the window at the building across the alley and heard Rossi say in his mind, "all of the victims were killed in their homes." He knew that's where they were being held, so he set off on his own. Taking the back staircase that led to a fire escape he climbed down and crossed the street to the house. He opened the banging gate door and slowly walked up the stairs. He grabbed the door knob and slowly opened it, peering inside. He walked in and shut the door.

(xxxxx)

Meanwhile, inside the house everyone stood around talking about the case and how it was definitely a set up by the professor. Chelsea suggested checking in on Spencer to see if he found anything. The detective, Emily, and Rossi decided to walk out front and wait for more information. Hotch, Chelsea, and Derek walked up the stairs to look for Spencer. When they got to Elian's room, Derek stepped inside and turned on the lights.

"Reid?" he called out.

"I'll check down the hall," Chelsea said as her heart began to pound nervously.

"Reid?" Derek called out again.

Hotch activated his com-link.

"Prentiss is Reid out front with you?" He asked.

"No, no one's come out since you went inside," Emily responded.

"Morgan, call his phone," Hotch ordered.  
Derek grabbed his phone and speed dialed Spencer. It rang a few times before hitting voice mail.

"He's not answering his phone," Derek said nervously.

Rossi appeared in the doorway.  
"What's going on?" He asked.

"We can't find Reid," Hotch responded.  
Chelsea walked back into the room. "He's not in any of the other rooms."

Rossi walked around the room and spotted something on the floor by the bed.

"Reid's vest?" Hotch asked noticing it too.

Rossi bent over and picked it up, "well this is not good." He handed the vest to Chelsea who held it tight against her vest-covered chest. Where could he have gone? Rossi noticed something sticking off the dresser next to the bed. He lifted it up and saw it was a framed newspaper article.

"Wait a minute Rossi. That's the building right over here," Derek said pointing out the window.

They both stepped up to the window and saw the building sitting eerily in the dark.

"Shit!" Derek said as he turned and ran.

"He's in that building," Rossi said to Hotch and Chelsea as they followed Derek out of the room.

(xxxxx)

Spencer walked through the house quietly. As he got deeper into the building he saw a section of torn and worn walls with missing slats. He stepped up to it and peered through. He could see Elian tied to a chair next to a table with candles and Julio lying about 20 feet away on the cement floor. He was bloodied and tied up. Suddenly Spencer heard a gun cock behind him. He turned to see the gun pointed directly at the middle of his face.

"You really shouldn't be here," Professor Walker said. He led Spencer into the room where the other two were tied up. "Get inside." Spencer walked quietly in front of him with his hands raised to his shoulders. He could feel the headache growing stronger again. He tried to stay focused.

"You're a professor and you're very smart. You're a lot smarter than this," he said hoping to distract him while he thought of a plan or the others figured out where he went.

"Smarter?" the professor laughed. "Your gun please. Toss it over there." He insisted. Spencer sighed with a mixture of pain and nausea. Professor Walker just assumed that he was sighing because he was losing his weapon. Once Spencer unholstered the gun and tossed it to the side, Professor Walker pushed him further ahead of him into the room.

"Men like you and I don't need guns," Spencer stated.

"Like you and I?"

"Yea, men of intelligence," Spencer said as he squeezed his eyes shut from the pain. He couldn't even stand up straight. He ducked his head slightly as he tried to avoid any light.

"Oh we're the same," the professor laughed.

Julio woke up from his dazed state and began screaming behind the duct tape.

"Shut up," the professor said to him.

"Yeah I think there are some similarities. I mean we both love books," Spencer continued as he blinked rapidly at the pain-inducing light.

"Books?" Professor Walker asked confused with where Spencer was going with this.

Spencer's phone began to ring.

"Ahh!" Professor Walker cried as he reached out for Spencer and dug through his pocket. Once he got the phone in his hand, he threw it to the floor away from Spencer. Again, Julio began to scream as he squirmed for freedom on the floor. Spencer knew he was trying to tell him something. He just couldn't figure it out.

"You shut up! Shut up!" Professor Walker shouted as he pointed the weapon briefly at Julio, before turning it immediately back to Spencer.

"Know what … I don't … I don't believe that you killed all these people just to sell a book," Spencer suddenly stated.

"Oh really," the professor said incredulously. Spencer confirmed. "Elian will die of an overdose after killing his Santaro for his fingers. It will all make sense to the police."

"How are you going to explain me?" Spencer asked.

"Elian will have killed you too. Have we not established how ill he is? He's been on a Palo rampage. Everyone will want to learn about the religion that drove the boy crazy." Julio shrieked louder and more fiercely. "Will you shut up!"

Spencer closed his eyes tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry but I don't … I don't believe that this is about a book. And I don't think that you do either." He reopened his eyes and looked at Professor Walker.

"Excuse me."

"I think it's more about the abuse, the abandonment, and the lack of attention from your father," Spencer said as he rubbed at his eyes. The damn headache was becoming unbearable. He was beginning to worry that he wasn't going to survive this case. Either his head was going to explode and kill him or Professor Walker was going to shoot him. He did not see this ending well.

"That's enough," Professor Walker snapped. How dare he bring up his father!

"Know what the ridiculous thing is? You … You set up a pyridine where you _actually_ have to get caught. Think about it, if… if you get away with this, your father will never know you did any of it," he said as he rubbed his eyes and squinted. He tried to stay focused, but he had to keep closing his eyes against the pain.

Professor Walker looked back at the screaming Julio. Spencer could no longer take it. He felt weak in the knees and terribly lightheaded. He threw both hands over his eyes and rubbed at the intense pain.

"What is wrong with you!" Professor Walker asked.

"I'm sor… it's just very bright in here for me," Spencer whimpered. He continued to rub at his eyes as the professor looked around the room confused.

Bright?" He said as he looked at the dark room that was only lit by candles and a tiny bit of moonlight.

"Can you please dim the lights? I'll do anything," Spencer begged as he covered his entire face and bent over feeling like he was about to pass out.

"The lights? What is … just shut up! Shut Up!" Professor Walker screamed at Julio as he turned his attention to the captured man.

While Spencer was bent over rubbing his face, he noticed a pipe lying on the ground. He reached out and grabbed a hold of it, swinging it into the back of Professor Walker's head. The professor collapsed, which allowed Spencer to rush to aid Julio. Suddenly the door kicked open and the team rushed in with Derek and Hotch both shouting "FBI."

"Morgan We need an ambulance," Spencer called out to his friend.

"Get an ambulance," Hotch said to one of the detectives behind him.

"And Elian's been overdosed with heroin," Spencer explained as he untied Julio and pulled the tape from his mouth.

"Don't hurt me," Professor Walker cried out like a baby as Derek read him his rights and yanked him to his feet.

While Hotch checked on Elian, Spencer and Chelsea helped Julio stand up.

"You heard me calling," Julio said gratefully.

"What?" Spencer asked.

"You heard me calling. That's why you came," he responded.

"Julio I found a photograph of you in front of this building that's how I found you," Spencer explained. Not believing in Julio's religion.

"You don't really believe that do you? That you just happen to see a photograph," He said before sliding a bracelet off his wrist. "This is a luzide. It will protect you. I don't need it anymore but you do." He placed the bracelet in Spencer's hand before walking off.

Spencer stared at the bracelet, but quickly tried to hide it when he saw Hotch walking toward him.

"What do you need protecting from?" Hotch asked.

"I have no idea," Spencer partially lied. While he truly had no idea what Julio meant, he did know these headaches were a big deal. They were something he couldn't ignore.

"Are you alright?" Hotch said, hoping to get more from his young agent.

"Yea … ooh yea, yea, I … hmmm, I pretended to have a headache in order to distract him," Spencer lied again.

"Pretended?" Hotch said not believing a word of it.

"Yea, pretended," Spencer said again before walking off. He didn't want to be questioned further. He just wanted to go home.

Hotch and Rossi watched him leave. Rossi turned and looked at Hotch indicating he, too, knew there was something wrong with Spencer. Something terribly wrong.


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone was climbing onto the plane to head home after the case was closed. Hotch sat at the table writing, while Rossi found a place to read quietly. Emily and Chelsea climbed onboard next and sat down next to each other. Chelsea pulled out her iPod and headphones. She was still shaking from the nights events. Derek and Spencer came over to sit across from the girls.

"Anyone up for a game of poker?" Emily asked as she pulled a deck of cards out of her bag.

"What the hell," Derek said. "I'm in."  
"Sure," Spencer said gently. His headache had subsided enough that he was able to blend in again.

Emily looked at Chelsea, "you in?"

"No, thank you," Chelsea replied coldly.

Emily looked at Derek and Spencer who both looked at her puzzled.

"Everything alright," Emily asked noticing Chelsea had angled herself away from the group.

"I'm fine," she said tersely.

"You sure?" Derek started to say, but she quickly cut him off.

"I said I'm fine." With that she got to her feet and walked off to the kitchenette.

Hotch had looked up from his spot and looked to see if Rossi had been listening as well. He scrunched his eyebrows at Hotch in acknowledgement. Emily put the cards down and got up to follow Chelsea. In the kitchenette, Chelsea was trying to open a packet of sugar and couldn't get it. She finally threw the packet with shaking hands while cursing its name.

"Whoa, you are clearly not fine. What is going on?" Emily asked in surprise. She had never seen Chelsea get this worked up before.

"I can't get that stupid packet of sugar open," Chelsea said as she attempted to open another one.

"Hey, hey. Calm down. Give me the sugar," Emily said as she reached out and easily tore open the paper.

Chelsea snatched it from her friend's hand and poured it into her coffee. She stared at the coffee a moment before leaning on the counter to brace herself. She felt out of control. Her anger nearly had her in tears.

"Chelsea, please talk to me. What's going on?" Emily said now clearly concerned for her friend.

Before she could answer, Hotch appeared behind them.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

Chelsea tried to take deep breaths and calm down, but she felt tears filling her eyes. She was embarrassed by how much this night affected her. Emily turned her back on Chelsea and leaned close to Hotch.  
"Let me talk to her. I think I have an idea what's going on," she said.

Hotch looked at Chelsea, before nodding back at Emily. He turned and walked back to his seat as Emily turned back to Chelsea. She put a hand on her friend's back to soothe her.

"Chelsea is this about Reid?" she asked in a soft tone.

Chelsea looked up at Emily as a few tears escaped her eyes. "How could he be so selfish? He just walked into that building with no backup and no vest. He could have been killed, Emily!" She said trying to keep her tone down so the others didn't hear her. "What if we didn't figure it out in time? What if Walker had shot him before we found him? I'm so angry at him. I'm so angry," she growled as tears now streamed steadily from her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Spencer said as he appeared behind Emily.

"How could you do that Spencer? What the hell were you thinking?" Chelsea said louder than she meant to.

"I … I don't know … I wasn't thinking," he muttered as he scuffed his converse sneakers against the ground.

"You don't know? You don't know why you put yourself in danger rather than walk down 9 flights of stairs to tell your team you know where Walker is?" she snapped at him as the entire plane now heard the confrontation.

He stared at her in stunned silence. He'd done some stupid things over the years, but nobody ever reacted the way Chelsea was reacting. He wasn't sure what to do or what to say. He didn't understand why she was this upset.

"I'm so angry right now, I don't know what to do. I feel trapped on this plane right now. I need to be alone. Please just leave me alone," she said as she swung the bathroom door open and went inside slamming the door shut.

Emily slowly turned her gaze to Spencer. He looked at her with guilt-ridden eyes.

"I'm really sorry. I know I shouldn't have done that. I really don't know what was going through my mind when I did that," he said sadly.

"Yea it was a pretty fucked up decision and you're lucky it turned out the way it did," Emily said to him bluntly.

He nodded in understanding.

"Look, the best thing to do right now is give her some space," Emily said as she patted his back and walked back to her seat.

She picked up the cards in front of her chair and sat down. After a moment Spencer wandered over and sat down feeling incredibly sheepish about his behavior. He could feel everyone's eyes on him. He picked up his cards as a distraction, but barely paid attention to the game. After a few hands, he quit playing altogether and sat waiting for Chelsea to emerge from the bathroom. About 20 minutes later she did finally come out of the bathroom. She walked over to an open seat and grabbed a blanket out of the compartment below. Curling up against the window she snuggled into the blanket and closed her eyes. She could feel Spencer watching her, but she couldn't look at him. She still had visions of them finding Spencer dead. She eventually dozed off and slept the remainder of the flight.

When they landed, Emily woke Chelsea up. Everyone was already off the plane. Chelsea stood up and started folding the blanket.

"Are you going to be alright?" Emily asked.

"Yea, I'll be fine. Thanks," she said smiling half-hearted.

"If you need anything call me, ok?"

Chelsea nodded as Emily turned and walked off the plane. Once Chelsea finished cleaning up, she grabbed her bag and walked down the plane stairs. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself as she walked towards her car. As she neared it, she could see Spencer waiting by his car. She took a deep breath as she felt her heart drop at the sight of him. She still wasn't ready to forgive him for what he did.

"Spencer go home," she said as he stepped forward.

"Chelsea, I'm sorry for what I did. I really am. I made a stupid decision and I wish I could take it back," he said as he walked closer to her.

Chelsea unlocked the car and tossed her bag into the back seat. She slammed the door and folded her arms across her chest.

"Why Spencer?" she said angrily.

"Why do I want to take it back?" he asked confused.

"Why did you do it?" she clarified.

Spencer shoved his hands in his pants pockets and kicked the ground with his sneaker.

"If you tell me you don't know, I'm walking away," she said between clenched teeth.

Spencer opened his mouth and closed it again. He wanted to tell her the truth, but it went against his normal behavior. Especially not this quickly into a friendship. Chelsea rolled her eyes.

"Good night, Spencer," she said as she turned to go to her car.

Spencer reached out and grabbed Chelsea's arm, "no wait. Please give me a minute." Chelsea turned to face him again. They were much closer than before. She could see the hesitation in his eyes as he stared back at her.

"I'm not … I don't … I don't share things usually, so give me a minute to explain," he said as he stuttered nervously.

Chelsea felt a pang of guilt at pushing him. She could see he was clearly torn about talking to her about whatever secret he was keeping. Without thinking she reached out and grabbed his hand. She decided to confess how she felt rather than push him to talk.

"I'm angry at you. Like steaming mad." She took a deep breath. "You really scared me. I thought …" she choked on her words. Feeling the tears filling her eyes again she tried desperately not to cry again. "I thought something happened to you. I thought we were going to find you hurt or …" she trailed off again.

When she went to pull away from him, he held her hand tighter and pulled her back until her body touched his. Something he normally didn't do and wrapped his arms around her. Chelsea was reluctant at first, but soon she held tightly to his jacket and sobbed into his shoulder. Spencer held her tight as he tried to console her.  
"I'm sorry," he said as he buried his face into her hair. "I'm so sorry." He held her in silence for a few moments as she cried away all of her anger. He licked at his lips nervously. "My mom has Schizophrenia," he suddenly blurted.

Chelsea pulled back from his arms and looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What?"

"My mom … she is Schizophrenic," he said again.  
"I'm sorry to hear that, Spence, but I don't understand," she said.

He pinched his tongue between his lips as he thought through his next words. "I … I've been getting headaches. Really intense headaches. It makes it difficult to think straight and concentrate. It's been on and off now for about 3 months. They seem to be getting progressively worse," he said blinking rapidly.

"Have you gone to a doctor?" Chelsea asked with concern.  
"Yea, a few actually, but they all keep telling me I'm fine," he said.

"So, you're afraid …" Chelsea trailed off.

Spencer took a shuddering breath and nodded quickly. She could see tears forming in his eyes as her heart hurt for him.

"Oh, Spence," she said as she pulled him into another hug. This time, he buried his face in her shoulder while she held him tightly. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" She asked as she ran her fingers through his hair.  
"I've taken care of myself nearly my entire life. I don't … really rely on anyone," he said swallowing hard.

They stood quietly for a moment before Chelsea broke the silence.

"I know it's kind of late, but … do you want to come over? I can make you something to eat?" she offered.

Spencer looked at her unsure of what to do. Usually his time was spent alone, with the exception of a few get togethers with his friends.

"I'd really like it if you did," Chelsea said as she brushed a stray piece of hair from his face.

"Alright," he finally said.

Chelsea smiled softly at him. "Ok, well follow me. It's about 15 minutes from here," she said.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea hung her coat on the coat rack and tossed her keys on to the counter. She turned to face Spencer and smiled at him. Her home was decorated with Halloween décor. The windows had lights around them that looked to be a mixture of black and orange. There were figurines and snowglobes with cute ghosts and goblins. She even had a throw blanket over her couch that was themed.

"Are you cold? I can put on the fireplace?" she offered.

"Um, sure that sounds good," he nodded as he walked around admiring her decorations.

Chelsea walked over to the fireplace and leaned in with a lighter. After a moment the sounds of the crackling fire could be heard.

"I'm going to go change real quick and then I can make us something to eat," she said as she left the room.

Spencer walked over to her bookshelf and began browsing the titles. Within moments, Chelsea reappeared in a pair of gray sweatpants and an orange tank top that showed she was no longer wearing a bra. She had also lifted her long brown hair up into a messy bun.

"So are you hungry for like pizza or something light like s'mores," she asked.

"Um … whatever you want is fine with me," he said.

"Spence, stay a while. Take off your jacket and get comfortable," she said before walking off towards the kitchen.

He heard her opening doors and cabinets as he pulled his jacket off and draped it gently over the arm chair.

"You want soda, tea, hot chocolate, coffee?" she called out from the kitchen.

"Surprise me," he responded as he loosened his tie.  
"Do you make any decisions Spencer Reid?" she joked.

He laughed quietly at her teasing. A few minutes later she emerged with a tray full of items.

"Wow, you didn't have to bring all that. I would have been fine with something simple," he said as he rushed to help her.

"This is simple. I've got stuff to make s'mores, pretzels, candy corn, and cheeseballs. How is that complicated?" she said as they placed the tray down on the floor near the fireplace. "Do you mind if I put on some music in the background?"

Spencer shook his head as she got up and walked to one of the end tables. He saw her leaning over what he believed was an MP3 player and a speaker that looked like a giant Tylenol. As music started playing over the speaker, Chelsea walked back over and sat across from Spencer. She reached down and grabbed a stick to spear her marshmallow.

"Dig in," she said as she stuck the marshmallow into the fire.

Spencer followed suit and did the same thing.

"Alright Spencer, I want to know more about you," she said grinning at him. She saw his face blush slightly. "What's your favorite holiday?"

"Halloween," he replied immediately.  
"See this is easy. We can have a conversation," she teased.

"Maybe not," he said looking at her seriously.

"Why?" she asked furrowing her brow.  
"Cause you can't be distracted," he said as he tried to hide a smile that appeared on his lips. "Your marshmallow is completely on fire."

"Shit!" she said as she pulled the stick out of the fire and blew on her marshmallow. Once it was extinguished she looked at the black charred mallow. "Ok, smartie, let's see yours"

He pulled his marshmallow out and it was perfectly golden brown. He took two graham crackers and laid a piece of chocolate on one before sandwiching the marshmallow in between.

"Show off," she said feigning disdain. He held the s'more out for her to take. "No, no. Get that s'more away from me. I can make my own just fine thank you."

Spencer laughed as he took a bite of his and moaned in fake pleasure. "Wow, this is delicious. You are really missing out."

Chelsea grabbed a candy corn and chucked it at him playfully.

"Want to see a dumb talent?" she suddenly asked giggling.

"A dumb talent?" he asked laughing.  
"Well, yea. I mean it's a talent I can't do a damn thing with other than entertain nighttime guests," she said laughing with him.

"Alright, entertain me," he said leaning back on his hands.

Chelsea stood up and shook out her limbs. "Ok, I need your help though." She waved him to stand up. "Grab a pretzel," she said. Spencer obeyed. Chelsea stepped back a bit from the food and the fire. She faced away from Spencer and leaned over to touch the floor. Slowly she lifted her feet off the ground and into the air. Spencer was shocked at the strength in her arms to perform such a solid handstand.

"Ok, now put the pretzel by my big toe." He walked over and placed the pretzel by her toe which she held between the toe and foot pad. "Step back a little," she said.

Spencer backed away as he watched her slowly lower her legs in the opposite direction, bending herself nearly into an 'o' shape. When her foot reached her face, she leaned up and grabbed the pretzel from the foot. She slowly lifted her feet back up into the air and lowered them to the floor.

"Oh my gosh, that's ridiculous," he said impressed as he clapped.

"Completely ridiculous," she laughed as she ate the pretzel and took a bow.

"I didn't realize you were so flexible," he said.

"I took dance and gymnastics for many years," she replied sitting back down on the floor.

Spencer joined her again as he popped a candy corn into his mouth.

"So let's see your talent. What tricks do you have up your sleeves?" she asked raising an eyebrow flirtingly at him.

He showed her the candy corn in his hand, closed his hand and opened it. The candy corn was gone. He reached out and pulled the candy from her ear.

"A magician," she said smiling at him. "Now that's a talent that can actually be used." Spencer laughed as he popped the candy into his mouth.

"If my career ever fails with the FBI I can always count on a job as a clown," he said jokingly.  
"You'd be one sexy clown," she said giggling as she lifted her glass of tea and took a sip.

Spencer blushed at her suddenly blatant flirting.

"Clown and sexy don't really go together," he said trying to brush off the compliment.

"Clearly you haven't seen Ronald McDonald in a while. That clown has got it going on," Chelsea joked causing Spencer to burst out laughing.

After another half hour of goofing around and teasing each other, they settled down to watch _It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown_. Not ten minutes into the movie, both Spencer and Chelsea fell asleep on the couch. Spencer was in a slightly caddywhompus position with his arm around Chelsea. She had fallen asleep and curled up against him without realizing it. They both snuggled together blissfully unaware that they were both falling hard for each other.


	6. Chapter 6

Chelsea's eyes popped open at the sound of her phone buzzing. She sat up and searched for the location of the noise. She glanced back to see Spencer leaning on his knees, rubbing his eyes. Chelsea searched for her phone.

"Right here," Spencer said handing her the phone. "It was between the cushions."

She looked to see she had two missed calls from Emily. She looked over shyly at Spencer and smiled at him. He smiled back at her. They both sat nervously not knowing what to do or say.

"I'm sorry, this is a little awkward," Chelsea laughed.

"A little," he said turning a slight shade of pink.

"I should probably call Emily back before she starts to worry. If you want to clean up or anything I can get you a towel and I think I have an extra toothbrush," she said chewing nervously on her bottom lip.

"Um, yea that would be nice actually," he said.

"OK, come here." Chelsea walked towards her bedroom and straight to the master bathroom. She opened a cabinet and pulled out a fresh blue towel. She placed it next to the sink and slid one of the drawers open to get a toothbrush. "You're welcome to use anything in here. I don't have anything I'm not willing to share." She grabbed her own toothbrush and put some paste on it.

"Thank you," he said gently. She could see he was as nervous and unsure as she was.

"You're welcome. Let me know if you need anything else," she said before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

She walked into the living room and dialed Emily's number while brushing her teeth. Emily picked up after the second ring.

"Hey, how are you doing? I was starting to worry," Emily said.

"Sorry, I slept in a bit," Chelsea said with a mouth full of toothpaste.

She looked at the clock that read 10:43am as she headed into the kitchen to spit out the remainder of the paste.

"Are you alright?" Emily asked again.

"Yea, I'm fine. Sorry for the way I acted yesterday. I guess I was just tired," she said running her fingers through her hair that she just freed.

"No don't apologize. Your reaction was completely normal. I think we were all a little angry at him. Have you tried talking to him?"

"Yea, we … cleared the air," Chelsea said as she smiled thinking about the previous night.

"What happened? What did he say? Did you call him or did he call you?" Emily said anxious to hear details.

"Actually …" she trailed off when Spencer entered the living room. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt her blood run through her veins. He wore his pants and shirt from the night before, minus the tie and jacket. His hair was matted down and reached just below his eyes. He was running his fingers through it to get it out of his eyes. Chelsea bit her lip as she tried to contain her arousal.

"Chels? Helloooo?" Emily was saying.  
"Can I call you back?" Chelsea said in a daze.  
"What? Why?"

"There's someone I have to do," she said dreamily.

"Someone? Who's there? What's going on?" Emily asked completely confused.

Chelsea snapped out of her daze when she saw Spencer staring at her trying not to laugh.

"Huh?"

"You just said there is someone you have to do," Emily repeated. "Who is with you? Is it Reid?"

"What? No … I didn't say that," Chelsea protested. "I have some _thing_ to do," she emphasized.

"You did not!" Emily said laughing.

"I'll call you later. Bye," she said hanging up.

She looked at her phone and then back up at Spencer. He was still standing in the same spot looking at her. Chelsea felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment. There was no taking back what she just said and she knew Spencer heard it.

"Well, I really don't know what to say after that," she said scratching the back of her neck nervously.

Spencer smiled, but didn't say anything. She could see he was still apprehensive about the whole situation. "I mean I … I imagine you know … that I like you. I don't exactly hide my feelings very well. Clearly," she said turning red again. "You don't have to say anything … or reciprocate … I won't let things be awkward at work or anything … I know this is a lot," she rambled before Spencer started laughing. "What? This is funny to you?" she asked feeling humiliated.

"You are so cute when you ramble," he said walking towards her.

She looked down at her bare feet letting her hair drape over her shoulders to hide her face. She wasn't sure how to take his statement. She hoped it was a sign that he was interested in her too, but what if he was just making fun of her. She saw his sneakers come into view before she felt his hand lift her chin. She looked into his hazel eyes and bit her lip.

"Can I tell you something?" he asked sounding nervous.

Chelsea couldn't find her voice so she just nodded.

"I like you too," he said as he gently pushed her hair back over her shoulders.

Chelsea felt her heart racing as she held herself back from throwing herself at him.

"I really want to kiss you right now," she said licking her lips.

Spencer chuckled, "you really don't hide your feelings."

Chelsea giggled as she inched closer to him. "No I really don't."

Spencer leaned down towards her still staring into her eyes. He ran a hand across the side of her face into her hair before pulling her mouth to his. The kiss was gentle at first, but it steadily got more intense. Chelsea pressed herself against Spencer's body as she ran her fingers through his damp hair. She felt herself getting hotter until she finally stepped back from him panting.

"That was … that was amazing," she said still trying to catch her breath.

She figured he was in the same boat as her, because all he did was nod. Before they could say anything else, both of their phones started ringing. They looked to see that work was calling them in.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea ran through the trees. Her feet pounding the dirt as she dodged limbs and tree roots. She saw the shadow take a right turn.

"He's heading towards the lake!" she yelled into her com-link.

"I've got a visual," Derek responded.

Chelsea followed the unsub into the clearing just in time to be accidentally tackled into the lake with Derek and the unsub. Chelsea flew backwards and fell into the cold water. Derek tried to pull the unsub away from her, but they continued to wrestle with Chelsea tangled underneath of them. Chelsea held her breath as she was pushed to the bottom of the lake. She tried to slide out, but every time she did the unsub or Derek would fall on her, knocking her back under the surface. Finally she felt herself being pulled away from the fight and emerged from the water coughing and spitting out the disgusting water.

"Are you ok?" Spencer asked her as he helped her out of the water.

Chelsea nodded as she staggered onto the bank with Spencer's arm still around her waist.

"You're not hurt are you?" he asked as he let go to stand in front of her.

She looked up into his concerned eyes and smiled. "No I'm ok. I promise," she said.

They turned to look as Rossi and Derek dragged the unsub out of the water and threw him to the ground. Derek stepped on the man's back as he placed cuffs on the man. He angrily read him his rights as he lifted the man up to drag him towards the SUV.

Rossi looked over at Chelsea. "You alright?"

"Yea, I'm fine," she said as she began to shiver.

"Let's go get you a blanket," Spencer said placing his arm on her lower back to lead her towards the waiting ambulance.

Rossi didn't miss this small gesture and noted it for later.

Chelsea snuggled into the plane seat with a cup of coffee as they started the flight back home. Emily and J.J. wandered over to sit with her, while Derek, Spencer, Hotch, and Rossi occupied the other end of the plane. After settling in, Emily glanced over her shoulder before turning back to Chelsea.

"Alright, I've been patient enough. Spill it," she said.

Chelsea scrunched her brows together and looked at J.J., then back to Emily. "Spill what?"

"Don't play dumb with me. Who was at your house that you wanted to 'do?' Was it Reid?" Emily pressed.

J.J's jaw dropped. "You and Spence?"

"What?" Chelsea said as her face turned red.

"I knew it! What happened? Did you sleep with him?" Emily said excitedly.

"Will you keep it down," Chelsea said in a loud whisper. "And no, we didn't sleep together."

"So why was he at your house this morning at 10am?" Emily asked with her arms folded across her chest.

"Oh my gosh, it's really not a big deal," Chelsea tried to downplay.

"Actually considering the fact that Spence never opens up to anyone this quickly, it's kind of a big deal … at least to us," J.J. said.

Chelsea chewed on her cheek nervously wondering how much to share with them. She wasn't even sure what was going on between them.

"What happened? How did he end up at your house?" Emily tried again.

Chelsea sighed. "He waited to talk to me when we landed yesterday. I invited him over, we stayed up talking until we fell asleep, and that's all," she shrugged.

Emily eyed her suspiciously.

"So are you two together now?" J.J. asked.

"I don't know really. I mean, we both confessed that we liked each other, but we didn't talk about what that would mean going forward. What will Hotch say?" she said nervously playing with a string that was loose on the blanket on her lap.

"Garcia dated a co-worker and it worked out fine. You just have to be careful not to cross the lines while at work," J.J. said as she tucked her feet up underneath of her.

Emily was still silent and staring at her with a quizzical look. Chelsea looked at her and frowned. "What?"

Emily narrowed her eyes at Chelsea. "During this all night chat session did anything else happen?"

"Em, I told you we didn't sleep together," Chelsea said rolling her eyes.  
"So you said. But you didn't say if you kissed him," Emily said raising an eyebrow.

Chelsea felt her cheeks heating up.

"I knew it!" Emily cried out as J.J. giggled.

"Geez, Emily. Why don't you announce it to the entire team," Chelsea said.

Emily went to stand up, but Chelsea squealed and pulled her back down to her seat. Emily and J.J. both laughed.

"You guys suck," Chelsea said covering her beet red face.

"So now that we've established there was a kiss. Was it good? Was there tongue?" Emily asked as if she suddenly aged back to her teen years.  
"Em, seriously?" Chelsea said looking at her friend.

"I'm dead serious. I've known Reid for 11 years now and he is still a big mystery to me. So spill it!"

Chelsea shot J.J. a pleading look, but she just shrugged and took a sip of her tea.

At the other end of the plane, Spencer was trying to read his book, but another intense headache hit him. He was trying to ignore it, but the pages kept blurring together. Derek looked over at Spencer and nudged him with his elbow.

"You alright kid?" he asked.

Spencer looked at him with a furrowed brow. "Yea I'm fine. Why?"

"You haven't turned a page in your book the entire time is has been open," he said, which caused Rossi to look over in curiosity.

"This wouldn't happen to be because of a certain young lady, would it?" Rossi asked remembering his hand on Chelsea's lower back.

Derek looked at Rossi and quickly back at Spencer. "You got a girl and didn't tell me?"

Spencer felt himself blushing. "No I don't have a girl," he said closing his book and looking at Rossi.

"So the little touch I saw earlier this evening was just a friendship thing?" Rossi asked raising an eyebrow.

Derek's eyes widened and he looked at a red-faced Spencer with shock.

"The touch? This evening? What the hell did I miss? Who were you touching?" Derek said getting excited.

"Thanks Rossi," Spencer said rolling his eyes.

"Sorry, kid. Call it like I see it," Rossi replied with a grin.

"Well it's not J.J. cause she's married. It could be Emily, but you've known her a long time and nothing's happened before. Chelsea … Chelsea, however, is new and about your age," Derek said lifting his eyebrows up and down.

Spencer frowned and looked down at his feet.

"Pretty boy is mackin' on the new girl," Derek laughed. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"I'm not mackin' on her … whatever that means," Spencer said as his head started pounding again.

He placed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. Rossi and Derek interpreted it as him being embarrassed so they didn't question it.

"When did all of this happen? How long have you been hiding this?" Derek asked.

"I haven't been hiding it. It's not even an it because I don't even know what it is," he said frustrated at the questions into his privacy.

"Alright, calm down handsome. Look I'm razzin' ya, but I want you to know I'm happy for you. I really am and I hope whatever it is, it makes you happy," Derek said seriously.

Spencer looked at him and saw the honesty in his eyes. He gave him a quick smile. "Thank you."

"So have you kissed her?" Derek asked with a big grin on his face.

Spencer rolled his eyes and sighed. Derek laughed and held out his knuckles. "You so did! Hit it little brother!" Rossi chuckled at their banter when he saw Hotch heading back towards them from the kitchen. He cleared his throat to alert Derek to be quiet. Derek got the message and quickly pulled his headphones out as Spencer went back to pretending to read. He mentally reminded himself to turn the page every few minutes so they thought he was reading. Eventually he decided to shut his eyes and try to sleep instead due to the pounding in his head.

(xxxxx)

Two days later, Chelsea knocked on Rossi's door. When it swung open, she was greeted by Rossi in a white suit, big glasses, and a cigar in his hand. Chelsea giggled at the big gold jewelry he wore on his fingers, wrists, and neck.

"Welcome to the party," he said in a thick New York accent.

"A mob boss?" she asked.

Rossi grinned, "Right on. Better guesser than Morgan. He thought I was a pimp." Chelsea laughed. "And you look like a garden gnome," he said furrowing his brow.

"I'm sneezy the dwarf," with that she let out four actual sneezes.

"Uh oh," Rossi said.

"Yea, I caught a cold from that lake I suppose. I decided, might as well make the best of it and make it into a costume," she said before sneezing again.

"Well, come on in out of the cold," he said moving aside to let her in.

"I won't stay long. I just wanted to stop by and make an appearance," she said.

"I'm glad you did," he said as he led her into the giant living room.

Derek was the first to spot her. He was dressed like MC Hammer, with fake hair and all. Next to him stood Penelope, who was dressed as a butterfly. She looked gorgeous and her outfit had to have taken days, maybe weeks to make. It was stunning. Chelsea walked over to them.

"Penelope you look amazing," she said.  
"You sound terrible," Derek said noticing her nasal voice.

Penelope slapped his shoulder, while Chelsea giggled.

"No, I do. It's ok. I have a cold. Hence the costume. Sneezy the dwarf," she said as she rubbed a tissue to her nose.

"Well played," Derek said.

"Hey come here, I need to introduce you to some people," Penelope said leading her off.

"Oh great. New people while I sound like this," she said sniffling.

Penelope ignored her and took her straight over to J.J. and a man. J.J. was dressed like Barbie and the man next to her was dressed like Ken.

"Hey Chels," J.J. said smiling at her.

"Chelsea, this is J.J.'s husband Will," Penelope stated.

Will smiled at her and held out a hand.

"Oh, I don't mean to be rude. I have a cold and I would hate to give it to you," Chelsea said apologetically.

"Are you sneezy the dwarf then?" Will said in a thick New Orleans accent.

Chelsea nodded and grinned. "Figured if I have to look and sound like this, might as well make the best of it."

"Very clever. Well it is nice to finally meet you. Jennifer talks about you all the time," he said.

Before Chelsea could continue the conversation, Penelope grabbed her hand and dragged her off.

"Sorry more people to meet!" Penelope called as she pulled her through the crowd.

She stopped in front of a woman with short brown hair. She had a witch costume on, but the pretty kind.

"Alex, Alex, this is Chelsea. The girl who took your position," Penelope said to the woman.

Alex turned her attention to Chelsea and smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I've heard great things about you," she said kindly.

"She has a cold, so don't shake her hand," Penelope said causing Chelsea to blush.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Alex said.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you as well. Spencer, especially adored you," Chelsea said smiling at the woman.

"He is a sweet boy," Alex started.

"More people to see!" Penelope interrupted as she pulled Chelsea away again

. Chelsea waved goodbye to the laughing Alex.

After 20 minutes of meeting practically everyone in the room, Chelsea was finally able to escape Penelope's drunk clutches and find a quiet spot to sit down. All of a sudden a creepy gore-faced monster popped out from behind the wall. Chelsea screamed in surprise. Spencer took off the mask and laughed.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself," he laughed. "Where've you been? I've been looking for you for a while."  
"Penelope had me meet every person in this house in 20 seconds or less," she said as he chuckled. "I felt like I was participating in speed dating."

"Yea, she's wasted," he said sitting in the chair next to her. "So you've got a cold?" She nodded as she coughed and blew her nose. He reached out and touched her forehead. "Wow, you're actually burning up. You should go get some rest," he said with concern.

"Yea, I was just thinking about leaving," she said before sneezing multiple times.

"Come on, I'll go with you," he said getting up.

"Spence, stay. Have fun. This is your favorite night," she said to him.

"No, it's fine. I don't mind," he assured her.

Before she could argue further he left the room. In the kitchen he found Rossi chatting Alex and Derek.

"Hey guys, I'm going to head out," he said shaking Rossi's hand.

"So soon?" Rossi asked.  
"Chelsea isn't feeling well. I'm gonna take her home and make sure she's settled in alright," Spencer said before hugging Alex. "It was good to see you again."

"Good to see you too. Take care of yourself," she said.

They watched him walk off to finish saying his good byes. Alex raised an eyebrow at Rossi.

"Are they …" she asked trailing off.

"Yea, they are quite smitten with each other," Rossi said smiling.

"She's good for him?" Alex asked protectively.

"I think she is," Derek replied. "I haven't seen him this happy in a long time."

"Good. He deserves it," Alex said.

(xxxxx)

Back at Chelsea's home, Spencer had set her up on the couch and put the TV on. He got her some Tylenol for her fever and brought a trash can over for her tissues. He insisted on stopping at CVS to pick up items for her. As she laid on the couch watching Hocus Pocus, he came back into the room dragging a humidifier.

"Spence, you don't have to do all of this," she said before going into a coughing fit.

"You just shush," he said as he turned the machine on.

He placed a glass of water on the table near her with a bag of cough drops. He sat down on the couch facing her and started unscrewing a jar.

"What is that?" she asked.

"Vicks vapor rub. It'll help with the congestion," he said pulling back her covers a bit. He stuck his hand into the jar and then stopped. "Oh, I didn't really think this through," he said turning a bit red.

Chelsea smiled at him and pulled her tank top down just above her breasts. She could see him trying not to look. He slowly lowered his hand and pressed the cool gel to her skin. She felt him tenderly rub it generously across her chest as she closed her eyes breathing in the scent and enjoying the feel of his hands on her skin. When she felt him stop she opened her eyes to see him still looking at her.

"Thank you," she said as she pulled the covers back up to her chin. "Now go relax. There's nothing more you can do now."  
"I could make you soup. I bought soup?" he said.  
She pointed to the recliner. "Sit Spencer Reid or I will get up and take care of myself," she said.

He smiled at that and held up his hands in submission. "Alright, but if you need anything," he said before she cut him off.  
"I'll ask. Now relax," she insisted.

Spencer sat down to watch the movie, but kept glancing in her direction to see if she was ok. After about 30 minutes, he looked over and she had fallen asleep. He could hear the wheezing in her chest as she tried to breath. Getting up quietly, he scooted the humidifier closer to her as he grabbed a blanket from a basket and climbed back into the recliner. He laid back watching the movie before falling asleep himself.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea woke up in a pool of sweat. She had another one of her nightmares. The same one she's had for nearly her entire life. She sat up wiping at her face as she started shaking from being cold.

"Are you alright?"

She jumped a bit, startled by the voice in the dark. She looked over to see Spencer sitting up in the recliner. "Yea, I'm alright. I'm just cold," she said reaching for her blanket.

Spencer climbed out of his seat and walked over to her. Reaching out he placed his hand on her forehead. "You are burning up. Here check your temperature while I get some medicine," he said handing her the thermometer off the table.

Chelsea put the thermometer into her mouth as he walked off towards the kitchen. She heard him opening and closing cabinets. The thermometer beeped as he came back into the room. He handed her a glass and two Tylenol before grabbing the thermometer from her.

"103.2, geez Chels. I think you have more than a cold," he said frowning.

Chelsea nodded as she laid back down on the couch shivering. Spencer grabbed another blanket and covered her up. He left the room and returned with a wet rag. He sat down next to her and dabbed at her face before placing the cloth across her forehead. She tried to smile at him, but a coughing fit interrupted the moment. Spencer handed her the glass of water that she gratefully accepted. As she snuggled back under the blankets shivering, she felt his hands running through her sweaty hair. She wanted to protest and send him back to his chair to rest, but she was too tired to talk. Within moments she fell back to sleep.

(xxxxx)

By Monday morning, Chelsea was up and moving again. As she walked into the building, she heard Spencer calling her name. She turned around to wait as he caught up to her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked putting his hand to her forehead.

"I'm doing better. Not great, but I'll be fine," she said.

"You still feel a little warm," he said frowning.  
"I took some Tylenol and slept well last night. I'll be ok," she insisted as the elevator doors closed.

"You should've taken another day."  
Chelsea smiled at him. "Criminals don't take days off," she said half smiling at him.

As they stepped out of the elevator onto the floor, they ran into Rossi.

"Ah, perfect timing. We are needed in the conference room," he said.

Chelsea shot Spencer an ' _I told you so_ ' look as they followed Rossi towards the room.

(xxxxx)

On the flight home from their case, Spencer shut his eyes as the pain from his reoccuring headache intensified. Chelsea was sitting next to him, while J.J. and Derek sat across from them.

"Anyone up for dinner?" Derek asked as he stood up to stretch.

"I'm in," Chelsea said grabbing her go bag.

"I'm out. I need to get some files I didn't finish," Emily said yawning.  
"Thanks for the invite, but I have a lot to do," Hotch stated.

Derek looked at Rossi. "Come on old man, live a little," he teased.  
"I live a little every day I work with you goobs. Thanks, but I'm going to go home and relax," he said.

"Pretty boy, you in?" he asked Spencer who was rubbing his eyes.

Spencer looked at him dazed for a moment as another headache pounded his skull.

"No … I'm …. uhhh … I'm going to go home," he said.  
"I'll drop you off on the way," Chelsea said watching him with concern.

"I can take him, if he doesn't mind a quick stop at the office," Emily offered. "It's on my way."

Spencer looked at Emily and nodded.

"Yea go eat. Don't go out of your way for me," he said trying hard to fake a smile.  
Chelsea nodded, but still eyed him suspiciously. As they all started to walk off the plane, Chelsea grabbed Spencer's arm holding him back a bit.

"Are you ok?" she asked him.

"Yea … just a little headache," he lied forcing a smile.

She looked around to see if anyone was watching them. "Is it one of the bad ones?"

Spencer shook his head no. He didn't want to worry her. He always got through these headaches. No need to sound the alarm.

"Ok, well I'll call you tomorrow?" she said looking at him.

"Sounds good," he said before turning to walk off.

She watched him go, but decided to believe what he told her. She caught up with Derek who was on the phone with Penelope. She glanced one more time at Spencer as he climbed into Emily's car. Something just felt wrong.


	7. Chapter 7

Upon arrival, Hotch headed to his office to finish paperwork, while Emily and Spencer went to her desk to pick up the items she had left behind prior to leaving for the case.

"Shit, I can't find my cell phone. I think it fell out of my pocket in the car," Emily said as she looked around her desk. She walked off to get the keys from Hotch, while Spencer waited at the desk. He noticed his shoe was untied so he bent down to tie it, when the room started to spin. He sat back up and used his middle finger to press on the side of his nose near his eye. He sat in the chair for a few minutes trying to regain focus, but his head was throbbing. Emily returned not long after.

"Yep, found it in the car. I swear I'd lose my head if it …" Emily looked at Spencer with concern. "Reid?"

"Hmm?" Spencer looked at her with glazed eyes.

"Are you alright?"

Spencer took a deep breath. Weighing the option of telling her the truth or not. Finally he decided that she would know he was lying anyway.

"I'm not feeling well. I've been having intense headaches," he said wincing in pain.

"Have you called a doctor?" she asked him.

Spencer shook his head yes as he placed both hands over his eyes.

"Is there something I can get you? Some Tylenol?" she offered leaning on the ledge that separated their desks.

Spencer thought for a moment and nodded. She waited as he lifted his bag and started to stand up. Suddenly he dropped to his knees and threw his hands over his eyes. The room was spinning as he tried to focus. His ears were pounding, but he could faintly hear Emily calling his name. He shut his eyes tight and felt himself slip into darkness.

(xxxxx)

Spencer's eyes opened just a crack. He felt a wave of nausea wash over him as he immediately shut his eyes again.

"Turn off the light," he groaned. "It hurts."

He felt someone holding his hand and reassuring him everything would be alright. Before he could say anything he fell unconscious again.

"Spencer? Oh, God please protect him," Emily said still holding tightly to his hand that had gone limp. "Please hurry!"  
The ambulance was racing down the street, but it still felt too slow.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea ordered her sandwich and stood off to the side with Penelope and Derek.

"After I eat, I'm going home to take a nice warm bath and go straight to bed. I'm exhausted," Chelsea yawned.

"Tell me about it. This week seems to be dragging on," Penelope said.

As Derek was about to answer, his phone rang. He looked to see who it was.

"Guys it's Hotch," he said as the girls both looked down at their phones.

"Hotch?" His face went blank. "What? Oh my God. Ok, yea we are on our way. Just hang tight," he said as the girls looked at each other confused.

Chelsea and Penelope stared at him expectantly.

"Spencer's in the hospital," he said.

"What?" Chelsea and Penelope both said.

"What happened?" Chelsea asked as her heart raced.

"I don't know. We need to go now," he said running from the restaurant.

They all ran from the building leaving their dinners behind.

(xxxxx)

As Chelsea, Penelope, and Derek raced into the hospital they ran into an equally anxious Rossi.

"What's going on?" Rossi asked.

"I don't know," Penelope responded.

Derek jogged to the nurse's station and within moments was waving the rest of the crew to follow him. Once they reached the correct floor they saw Emily pacing the waiting room, biting her fingernails.

"Emily," Chelsea called out as she ran to her friend.

They embraced one another as the others quickly caught up.

"What happened? What's going on?" Derek asked Emily.

"I … I don't know. He said he had a headache," Emily started. "I told him I would get him some medicine and he collapsed. He just fell to the floor and was unconscious."

Just as the doctor emerged to talk to them J.J. and Will came running up.

"Are you Dr. Reid's family?" he asked.  
"Yes," Emily and Derek responded.

The doctor eyed Derek suspiciously, but looked down at his chart.

"Dr. Reid suffered a brain aneurysm. The good news is we were able to stop the bleeding with endo coiling. A pretty minimum procedure. We'll have to wait a few days to keep an eye on it as there is a risk of re-bleeding. I recommend he stays in touch with a neurologist following his release."

"Thank you doctor. When will we be able to see him?" Hotch asked.

"We just finished the surgery, so he won't be in his room for another hour or so. I would suspect by tomorrow's visiting hours you should be able to see him," the doctor replied.  
"Can one of us stay with him?" Chelsea spoke up.  
"We would allow one person to stay in the room with him."

Everyone looked at one another, before Derek spoke up.  
"I'm going to stay out here in the lobby. Anyone else who'd like to stay can do so. Everyone else I'll call in the morning when he wakes up," he said. "As for the room, Chelsea I think you should be there when he wakes up."  
Hotch scrunched his face in confusion and looked at Rossi who shrugged. Emily and Penelope both nodded in agreement.

"Did I miss something?" Hotch whispered to Rossi.  
"I'll tell you later," he said back.

Chelsea followed the doctor through the doors and towards the room where Spencer would eventually be brought in.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea had been nervously pacing the dark room as she waited for Spencer to arrive. It had been two hours and he still hadn't been brought into the room. Finally when she thought she would bust from nervousness, the door opened and two nurses entered pushing a sleeping Spencer in. She felt her heart catch as she saw him hooked up to the machines. He looked so peaceful and yet she knew how much pain he was in. After the nurses got him settled in they showed her where to hit the button if he needed them. She nodded and stood by his bed as they left the room. She stared at his pale face as tears streamed from her eyes. She timidly reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Spencer, I am so glad you are ok. You scared me half to death. I don't know what I would've done if you … if," she couldn't speak anymore as the thought overwhelmed her.

She pulled a chair over, sat down, and dropped her head onto the bed as she let herself cry. She held his hand tightly in hers as she sobbed until there was nothing left in her. She was so hungry, so scared, so grateful, and so exhausted. She finally dozed off with her head on the bed and her hand still holding his.

(xxxxx)

Spencer's eyes fluttered open. He still had a terrible headache, but not nearly as bad as before. He looked around the dark room not remembering how he'd gotten home. Was this a dream? It didn't look like his house? He heard a beeping sound and looked to his right. There was a machine next to him. What the hell was that? He went to sit up in bed when he noticed someone laying at the side of his bed. They also had his hand in theirs.

"Chelsea?" he said with a raspy voice.

Chelsea's head popped up and even in the dark he could see her tear stained face. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were swollen.

"Where … what's?" he said confused.  
"Spencer, it's ok. You are in the hospital," she said squeezing his hand.

"The hospital? Why?" he asked.  
"Sweetheart, you had an aneurysm," she said.

"What?" he said trying to take in the news.

"You're going to be alright though. They were able to stop the bleeding," Chelsea said rubbing her thumb across his hand.

He lifted his free hand and touched his messy hair. Chelsea smiled at him.

"They didn't need to cut that beautiful hair. They performed an endo … vascular … something," she said.

"Coiling," he replied. "No wonder it hurts down there."

Chelsea laughed gently.

"Everyone will be relieved to know you are awake. The doctor said they could come visit you in the morning," she glanced at her watch. "Which will be in about 3 hours, so get some rest."

She started to move, but he tightened his grip on her hand. With that the door opened and a nurse walked into the room.

"Well, look who's awake. How you feeling baby?" the woman said.

"Nauseous," he replied.

The nurse looked at her chart. "Let me get your vitals and I'll go get some more medicine to help with that nausea."

Spencer nodded as the nurse checked his blood pressure. Wrote the numbers on her clipboard, then checked his temperature. Once she finished all of this, she hurried off to get Spencer's medicine. They sat silently until she returned and added two vials of something to his IV. The nurse asked Chelsea if she needed anything before leaving the room.

"Are you cold?" He tried to sit up.

"I'm ok, just relax. I don't need a blanket," she said trying to get him to settle down.

She could see the medicine starting to take effect as his eyes glazed over. He let out a yawn that he tried to hide.

"Try to get some rest," Chelsea said as she adjusted Spencer's blanket to keep him covered.

Spencer nodded as he felt his eyes start to shut. He squeezed Chelsea's hand tighter. "Please … don't go," he mumbled as he drifted off to sleep.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said as she rubbed her other hand up and down his arm. "I promise."

(xxxxx)

Spencer heard a light knock on the door before it opened up. Derek, Penelope, and Emily entered the room. As they walked towards him, Spencer lifted a finger to his lips. They saw Chelsea with her head on the bed. They could tell by her posture that she was sound asleep.

"She just fell asleep about 10 minutes ago. The nurse told me she was up all night keeping an eye on me," Spencer said in a soft tone.

Emily was the first to step forward. She gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"You really scared me," Emily said running her hand across his arm.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Have you eaten anything? Can I get you something? Do you want some Jello?" Penelope asked rapidly.

"No, I'm not hungry, but thank you," Spencer said gently.

"I'm going to go get you something anyway. You need to keep your strength up," she said rushing off.

"I'll go with her. I need to let the others know you are awake. They want to see you too," Derek said before leaning over and kissing the top of Reid's head. "Glad you're ok, kid."

Spencer smiled at him before turning back to Emily. She looked tired and sad.

"I'm ok," he assured her.

"I know. I'm grateful for that. I really thought … last night in the ambulance … I didn't think you would," she got choked up. "I'm just glad you are alright."

Spencer squeezed her hand and smiled. "Thanks to you for being there for me."

"I'm always here for you," she said.

Chelsea stirred in her sleep. Her hand reached out looking for Spencer's. He moved it lower and when she found it she grabbed ahold again. Spencer looked at Chelsea's hand and back at Emily.

"You guys going to make this thing official?" Emily asked.

Spencer looked at Chelsea. "I don't know. I mean, I like her a lot … I just don't know …" he trailed off.

"What are you worried about her or Hotch?" Emily said sitting down on the bed.

"I guess both a little," he said.

"Well, I can't answer for Hotch. That's something you'll have to discuss with him if you do decide to date. As for Chelsea, I can assure you, she feels the same way you do."

Spencer tried to hide his smile, when the door to the room opened again. This time Rossi and Hotch walked in.

"Hey kid, how you feeling?" Rossi asked walking over and shaking Spencer's hand.

"I'm feeling better, thank you," he said.

"Doctor said you should only be out of work for a week, but you'll need to be on light duty for at least a week after that and you'll need clearance from a neurologist to be able to fly with us," Hotch said. "And this time, no Dr. Reid second opinions."

"Yes, sir," Spencer replied smiling.

Spencer noticed Hotch look down at Chelsea who was still sound asleep holding Spencer's hand. He looked back up at Spencer who turned red.

"We'll be discussing this later when you are back to work," he said sternly.

"Yes, sir," Spencer said nervously until he saw a small smile reach Hotch's lips.

Before more could be said a loud clatter at the door caused Chelsea to jump from her seat. She looked around startled to see everyone standing in the room. Penelope stood in the doorway making an 'oops' face.

"Sorry," she said as she bent over to pick up the items that fell on the floor.

"How long have I been asleep for?" Chelsea asked as she tried to straighten her messy hair.

"Only about 20 minutes," Spencer replied.

"How are you feeling?" she asked turning her attention back to him.

"I'm fine. You can go. Go get some rest," he said to her.

"No, I'm ok," she said before a yawn took over.

"Chelsea, seriously, I'll be alright. Go home and get some sleep," he said smiling at her.

She looked around the room at the rest of the team. She hadn't noticed they were even here.  
"I'll stay with him," Morgan piped up.

"Me too," Garcia said placing the tray of food down on Spencer's side table.

"Ok … but I'll be back later," she said hesitantly. "Do you need anything from your place?" she asked.  
"No, I'm ok. Thank you though. Please just go get some rest," he said.

Chelsea nodded before yawning again. She followed Emily out the door.

(xxxxx)

"You ready to go home kid?" Derek asked as he helped Spencer out of the bed.

"Am I ever. My shower is screaming my name," he said as he got to his feet.

"Let's ride," Derek said grabbing Spencer's bag and walking out the hospital room.

When they arrived at Spencer's apartment Derek pulled out Spencer's keys and unlocked the door. He held the door open as Spencer walked inside. His face scrunched up as he looked around the room.

"Is that … cookies?"

"Homemade Chocolate Chip," Chelsea said as she emerged from the kitchen with a plate full of the cookies.

"Oh, wow," he said smiling.

"Penelope is finishing up in the kitchen. She made you a week worth of dinners so you can just pop them into the oven or microwave to heat up," Chelsea said as she hurried back into the kitchen.

"You guys … you didn't have to …" Spencer started.

Derek threw his hands up. "I had nothing to do with this. The girls insisted."

Penelope came running out of the kitchen squealing. She grabbed Spencer in a hug, "welcome home!"

Spencer laughed uncomfortably. "Thank you. You didn't need to do this."

"Oh poo, this is nothing. We were happy to help. Now go sit down while I finish the lasagna,  
she said before scurrying out of the room.

Spencer watched her leave as he walked over to the couch to sit down. Derek followed him chuckling before plopping down in the recliner.

"Those women are something else," Derek said as he lifted his feet off the ground.

"Yea, it's good to be home," Spencer said stretching out on the couch. "You should have seen this one nurse. I wanted to puncture my eardrums so I wouldn't have to listen to her stupid voice anymore."

Derek laughed. "Awe come on. She couldn't have been that bad."

At this point, Chelsea walked out of the kitchen to put another plate of dessert on the table when she overheard Spencer's conversation. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it peaked her interest.

"No she was worse than bad Derek. She wouldn't leave me alone. I swear every time I opened my eyes she was there. Touching me and annoying me," he said.

"Touching you?" Derek asked.  
"Yea, my hand, my arm. She even touched my hair." Derek burst out laughing. "It's not funny! I'm serious! She ran her fingers through my hair! Multiple times! I don't like to be touched! She was all over me!"

Chelsea felt her heart racing when Penelope burst through the door and ran straight in to her. They both shrieked as the glass in Penelope's hand hit the floor and shattered. The boys turned to look at what was going on behind them.

"I'm sorry!" Penelope apologized.  
"No, no. It's me. I'm sorry," Chelsea said as she bent down to pick up the glass.

"Careful, don't get that in your hand." She looked up to see Spencer coming towards her. "I'll get a broom."

She couldn't find the words to speak. She just nodded.

"I'll clean it up," Penelope offered.

Chelsea, again, just nodded. Spencer reappeared with a broom. Once it was all cleaned up, Chelsea looked at her watch. "Uh, I … I need to go. I'm sorry about the glass. I'm glad you are home," she said as she picked up her purse off the chair and rushed to the door.

"I thought we were going to get something to eat?" Penelope said looking confused.  
"I forgot … I have an appointment I can't miss. I need to go," she said as she swung the door open and hurried off.

"An appointment? On a Saturday? At 6pm?" Penelope said looking between Spencer and Derek.


	8. Chapter 8

The next two weeks Chelsea avoided Spencer as much as possible. She felt stupid for thinking that he would actually like her. He was a brilliant man who deserved a brilliant woman, not some average girl with baggage. She was so embarrassed that she let her guard down at the hospital. How could she not have been more considerate of his personal boundaries? She was all over him like they were a couple.

It was a cold November night and the team had just come back from a case and decided to go out to unwind. Emily noticed that Chelsea was drinking more than usual and avoiding Spencer who had just returned to the job two days ago.

"Hey Chels, you alright?" Emily asked her friend.

Chelsea threw her glass back and let the warm liquid slide down her throat. She placed the empty glass on the table and picked another one up off the tray.

"I'm fine. Just need to let loose!" she squealed. "Hey Derek, why don't you show me some of those dance moves?" She called out. Derek smiled at her and nodded. The two of them walked off towards the dance floor where they began to grind together.

"Emily, is something wrong with Chelsea?" Spencer asked breaking her thoughts.

"I don't know. She's drinking more than normal," she said watching as another guy asked to dance with Chelsea and she agreed. This person was handsy, where Derek wasn't. Spencer and Emily stood watching as Chelsea threw her arms around the man's neck, while his hand went around her waist pulling her close to his body. He said something to her that made her throw her head back in laughter.

"Did I do something wrong?" Spencer asked in a childlike voice.

"No," she said crossing her arms.

"I thought … I thought you said she liked me a lot?" Spencer said watching Chelsea intently.

"Reid, I don't know what's going on with her. This is not like her at all," Emily replied.  
"I guess she's changed her mind," he said sadly walking away.

Emily stormed out to the dance floor and grabbed Chelsea by her arm. "We need to talk. Now!" Chelsea looked at Emily in surprise, but followed her off the floor. Emily held tightly to Chelsea's wrist as she dragged her to a quieter corner of the club. "What is up with you?"

"What's up with me? I don't know, you dragged me over here. What's up with you?" Chelsea said clearly drunk.

"Why are you hanging all over that guy? I thought you liked Reid?" Emily asked angrily.

"Yea, well I don't," Chelsea snapped.

"Why? What happened?"

"Nothing happened. Now quit being a cock block and let me get back to dancing with Adam," Chelsea said as she walked off.

"That only works when a man says it!" Emily shouted at her.

Chelsea stomped back to the dance floor and found Adam. "Hey you wanna get out of here?" He nodded and followed her towards an exit door. When they got outside Chelsea grabbed Adam and pulled him up against her on the brick wall. They immediately started making out. Internally Chelsea's brain was shouting at her to stop doing this. She didn't want this Adam guy. She wanted it to be Spencer. Why was she doing this? After a moment, she finally found the courage to stop. "Wait, wait. Stop." Adam didn't seem interested in her protests. He trailed his kisses down her neck and grabbed at her butt. "I said stop." She tried pushing him away, but he wouldn't let go. She started to panic as she felt his hand go up her shirt. She tried to slip away from him, but her sheer red top ripped when he yanked her back into his grip. Her shirt fell to the ground leaving her standing in just her bra. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up!" Adam yelled as he lifted his hand and smacked her on the cheek.

Chelsea dropped to the ground. "I am a federal agent, you need to back off!" She cried as she tried to kick him away from her, but the alcohol was severely disabling her strength and coordination.

"I don't care who you are. You invited me out here, so now you're going to give me what I want," he said as he lifted her up and pressed her against the wall again. He used his one arm to pin her to the wall as he started to unbutton her jeans.

"Get off of me!" she screamed.

Suddenly she heard a loud sound as she was knocked over and saw Adam fall to the ground next to her. She scrambled to her feet when she saw Emily bending to help her. Looking back at Adam she saw Spencer and Derek pinning him to the cement. "You're going to wait here jack off until the police arrive," Derek said angrily.

"I didn't do anything," Adam insisted.

"No means no asshole," Spencer growled as he pressed Adam's face harder into the ground.

"You're hurting me," Adam said through a muffled mouth.

"Not as much as I'd like to," Spencer replied.

"Go check on her," Derek said looking towards Emily and Chelsea.

Spencer nodded, but gave one last hard push on Adam's face. He stood up and jogged over to Chelsea. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Chelsea shook her head no as she tried to cover her bare skin. Spencer shrugged out of his suit jacket and handed it to her. She thanked him as she slipped into it, shivering. The smell of Spencer radiated around her as she snuggled into his oversized jacket. She burst into tears and threw herself into Emily's arms.

"I am so stupid. I'm so sorry," Chelsea apologized.

Emily held her and looked at Spencer who was watching her with a mixture of anger and concern. They heard the sirens from the police arriving at the scene. "Reid, stay with Chelsea. I'm going to go talk to the officer."

Chelsea let go of Emily and immediately walked off to sit by herself. Spencer waited a moment before walking over to her. "Can I sit with you?" Chelsea nodded slowly, but didn't say anything. She wiped at the tears on her cheeks as she watched the officer handcuffing Adam. "Are you sure you aren't hurt?" Spencer asked again.

"Yes," Chelsea said in a broken voice.

"Why did you come out here alone with him? You could've been badly hurt or even killed," He said feeling mad again.

"I wasn't thinking clearly. I was angry and drunk and stupid," she mumbled as the tears reappeared.

"Why were you angry?" he prodded.

"I don't know."  
"You don't know why you were angry?" he arched a brow at her.

"I was mad at Emily," she started but then sighed. "No, I was mad at myself."

"Why were you mad at yourself?"

"Because I was stupid. I thought you liked me Spencer and when I heard you talking to Derek I realized I was mistaken. So I drank and when that Adam guy gave me attention I just wanted to …" She covered her face with both hands realizing how juvenile this all sounded.

"Wait, what? What did I say to Morgan that made you think I didn't like you?" he asked confused.

"I heard you at the house talking about how at the hospital every time you opened your eyes I was there and I wouldn't stop touching you," she replied still hidden in her hands.

Spencer sat quietly staring at his converse sneakers trying to think back to that conversation. "Chelsea, that wasn't about you."

Chelsea looked up at him with tear stained cheeks. "What? But …"

"It was one of the stupid nurse in training girls. She was extremely inappropriate and annoying the hell out of me. I kept trying to hint that I wasn't interested, but she kept on flirting with me anyway," he explained. Chelsea's face slowly turned red. "I'm sorry you misunderstood."

"So, I just made a big ass of myself for no reason," she said embarrassed.

Spencer chuckled. "I'm afraid so." He reached out and grabbed her hand in his. "I like when _you_ touch me," he said openly.

"I like you a lot Spencer. I don't know where you see this going, but I hope that we can keep moving forward," she said looking into his hazel eyes.

"I would like that too," he said smiling at her. "Especially since I spent a half hour in Hotch's office getting the talk about us dating."

"You went to Hotch?" she said surprised by his bold move.

"Well … yea. I mean … I had hoped that's what you wanted too," he said blushing.

"I do. So where do we go from here?" she said pulling his jacket tighter around her body.

"I guess I ask you to dinner tomorrow night," he said.

"And I guess I would say what time?" she smiled shyly at him.

"7 o'clock."

"It's a date."


	9. Chapter 9

Chelsea surveyed herself nervously in the mirror. She wore tight black pants with black high heels. Her shirt was gray and draped down showing a touch of cleavage. Her hair was half up in a clip and her makeup was smoky around the eyes. She pulled out her phone and face timed Emily.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Emily said answering the phone.

"What do you think? Do I look alright?" Chelsea asked as she used the mirror to reflect her image.

"For the third time, yes you look great! Do not change again!" Emily said rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, I'm so nervous," Chelsea said moving closer to look at her makeup.

"Chels, its Reid. You could wear a potato sack and he would adore you," Emily said.

Just then she heard a knock at her door. "Oh my gosh, he's here! I gotta go!" She hung up the phone as Emily shouted good luck. She tossed her phone on the bed and walked to her door. She took a deep breath and opened it. Her heart fluttered as she looked at Spencer standing in the doorway. He wore navy pants, with a blue checkered shirt and a plain blue tie. His hair draped just below his eye, but he made no effort to move it out of his face.

"You look amazing," he said smiling at her.

Before she could respond he held out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. Chelsea gasped, "oh, Spencer they are beautiful." She grabbed them from him and allowed him inside. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a vase from one of the cabinets. She filled it with water and put the flowers inside. Turning around she saw him staring at her. He blushed when their eyes met. Chelsea walked forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned up and placed her lips on his.

"We should probably go," he said when they broke apart. "Or I might not be able to stop kissing you."

Chelsea giggled and gave him one more quick kiss. She reached out for her purse and followed Spencer out the door.

(xxxxx)

Spencer pulled out Chelsea's chair and waited as she sat down. Once she was pushed in he took his seat across from her. The host handed them their menu's and walked off leaving them alone.

"Spence this place is so beautiful. I should have dressed up more," she said looking around.  
"You look perfect," he said smiling at her.

Chelsea felt her cheeks warming. She reached across the table and grabbed his hand. "So have you been here before? Is there something particular I should order?"

"I haven't been here before, but I've been told that the Parmesan Risotto with Roasted Shrimp is to die for," he said staring at the menu.

When the waiter arrived to take their order, Chelsea took Spencer's suggestion and ordered the Risotto with Shrimp, while Spencer chose Orange Rosemary Glazed Salmon. After pouring them each a glass of wine, the waiter set off to place their order. Spencer lifted his glass, "to a wonderful evening with a wonderful woman," he said.

"To an amazing man," she replied as they clinked their glasses together and both took a sip. Chelsea placed the glass back down and looked sheepishly at her plate. "Look I want to apologize again for yesterday. I'm so embarrassed at the way I acted," she started.  
Spencer reached across the table and placed his hand on hers. She looked up to see him smiling at her. "You've already been forgiven. There's no need to apologize anymore," he said.

She smiled gratefully at him and took a deep breath. "Ok, then. Uh … moving on. I know you are an avid reader, but what else do you like to do? Any hobbies?"

"I enjoy movies, like silent, classic, foreign. I've also taken up playing the keyboard. My little buddy Sammy got me interested in it," he said as his eyes sparkled at the memory of Sammy.

"Who's Sammy?"

"A few years ago, we were called to a case where a young autistic boy's parents were kidnapped. Sammy didn't talk much and we had a hard time trying to get information out of him. Rossi and I were trying to talk to him one day and he started playing the piano. It's how he communicated with us about what had happened to his parents. They were kidnapped by some delivery guy that was always in the music store that Sammy went to every day," he explained.  
"Did you find his parents?" Chelsea asked.  
"Yea, but his dad didn't make it. Once a month I meet up with him at the music store and he teaches me a new song to play. I'll have to introduce you to him sometime. What are your interests?"

"Oh goodness, I enjoy lots of things. Like yourself I enjoy reading and movies. I don't play any instruments, but I used to sing. I am a dance instructor for a local inner-city youth program. I like horseback riding, rock climbing, skiing. I guess there isn't much I wouldn't do or try," she said.

"You're a dancer?" he asked.

"Since I could walk pretty much," she responded with a twinkle in her eye.

"I can see it's a passion. What led you to the FBI rather than the entertainment industry?"

Chelsea swallowed hard and looked down at her drink. She lightly swirled the wine before taking a sip. Spencer could see the sadness in her eyes.

"It's just a path I decided to follow," she said trying to avoid the truth.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," Spencer began.

"No, it's alright. I just don't want to get into a heavy talk on our first date," she said forcing a smile.

"I understand, consider the topic closed," he said reaching across the table and grabbing her hand again.

Her eyes thanked him as Spencer struck up a new conversation regarding movies.

(xxxxx) 

After dinner Spencer drove for about an hour before pulling off onto a secluded road.

"Boy if I didn't know you I'd think you were about to murder me," Chelsea joked.

Spencer laughed. "We are almost there."

A few minutes later, he stopped his car in an open field in front of beautiful log cabin house. Chelsea climbed out of the car and looked at the place in awe. The rustic cabin looked warm and cozy against the cold wind that hit her face. If it weren't for the cloudless sky, she would have sworn it was going to snow.

"Where are we?" she asked.  
"This is a friend of mine's cabin. Don't worry as wonderful as this place is, that's not why I brought you here," he said opening the trunk of the SUV. Reaching inside he grabbed an armful of supplies. "Follow me."

As they walked towards the house, Chelsea was surprised when he walked around towards the back rather than going to the front door. When they stepped into the yard, Chelsea audibly gasped. The house was settled against a beautiful quiet lake equipped with a little dock.

"Spencer, this place is breathtaking," Chelsea sighed.

He turned and smiled at her before continuing towards the dock. When he got there he placed the box down and started unloading it. He had a thick blanket that he laid down on the wood, followed by another red plaid blanket. Next he pulled a bottle of wine out with two glasses. "Come here, lay down."

"Oh, Dr. Reid, putting the moves on me already?" she joked.

Spencer rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Just come here and lay down."

Chelsea obeyed and dropped herself onto the surprisingly soft blanket. When she looked up her jaw dropped. Thousands of stars littered the sky and every few moments meteors would fly by. "Spencer, this is beautiful," she said.

"I read there was going to be a meteor shower tonight so I put in a call to my friend to see if I could use the cabin for the night. Look over there you can see the haze from the Milky Way," he said pointing to the right. "And that bright light over there, that's Venus."

"Oh wow!" she said excitedly.

They talked for about an hour about the stars and outer space while staring at the sky. Chelsea finally turned on her side underneath the warm blanket and leaned her head on her propped up hand. "Thank you," she said smiling.

"For what?" Spencer asked mimicking her position.

"For this wonderful date. It's been one of the best nights of my life."

"Wow, no pressure for the next date," Spencer teased.

Chelsea laughed as she brushed a piece of hair from his eye. "You have really intriguing eyes." Spencer blushed at her observation. "I also love the way your cheeks turn pink whenever you are complimented." He dropped his gaze down to the blanket for a second before looking back up at her.

She laid her hand gently on his shoulder before moving in to kiss his lips. Chelsea laid down underneath of Spencer allowing for better access to each other's mouths. She licked at his bottom lip until he opened up and let her in. Their kiss grew stronger as their bodies screamed for one another. Chelsea put her hands on Spencer's chest pushing him back a bit. "You don't, um, have a key for the cabin do you?"

Spencer scrunched his face and glanced up at the house. "Yea, I do. Why?"

"It's a little cold out here. I'd like to … warm up … inside," she said hesitantly.

Spencer nodded and stood up. He held out his hand for her and helped her to her feet. He grabbed the blankets and tossed them into the box, then carried everything to the back door of the cabin. He unlocked it and led Chelsea inside. He found a switch on the wall that lit a lamp nearby.

"I feel like all I'm saying all night is wow, but … wow!" Chelsea said looking around the room.

It was decorated with rustic furniture and a stone fireplace stood in the center of the room. Chelsea shivered slightly as she stood surveying the room.

"I'll start a fire," Spencer said as he grabbed some logs and threw them into the fireplace. Moments later a fire started crackling and Spencer took the blankets and spread them out on the floor in front of it. "Come over here and warm up."

Chelsea walked over to the blankets and sat down next to Spencer who was still poking at the fire with a metal stick. After he finished, he scooted behind her and wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm. They both stared quietly at the fire watching it dance against the walls. Chelsea ran her hand up and down Spencer's arms that were folded tightly around her. She lifted his hand to her lips and placed a few soft kisses on the back of it. She turned around to face him. "So you wanna pick up where we left off?" she grinned as she pushed him backwards.

Spencer was flat on his back while Chelsea straddled his lap. She leaned over him and smiled before placing her lips on his again. She loosened Spencer's tie and tossed it to the side before unbuttoning his shirt while still keeping her lips firmly planted to his. Once she had reached the last button, she pulled back and lifted her own shirt over her head leaving her in just her lacy black bra. Spencer lifted his hands to unhook it. As it slid down her shoulders he used his hands to help. He ran his hands along her breasts as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes. Spencer sat up pulling her body closer to him. Chelsea let out a moan as he explored her breasts with his mouth. His tongue teasing her as she ran her fingers through his hair. Suddenly the sound of a phone interrupted the silence of the room.

"Are you kidding me?" Chelsea groaned as she heard the other cell phone making noise.

She ran her fingers through her hair, frustrated, before standing up to get their phones. She tossed Spencer his and she put hers to her ear.

"Hey," she said trying not to sound irritated.  
"I'm really sorry to do this to you, but we are needed at the office," Penelope said apologetically.

"Alright, see you in a bit," Chelsea sighed before hanging up.

She looked at Spencer who was still on the phone. "Yea, it's going to take about an hour, but we'll be there as quick as we can. Oh, alright that works. See you in a bit." He looked up at Chelsea with regret in his eyes.

"Well, I guess it gives us something to strive for on our next date," Chelsea said picking up her bra and shirt.

"Sorry about this," Spencer apologized as he buttoned up his shirt.

"Spence, it's not your fault. It's our job. We know this is bound to happen and probably more often than we would like. I can tell you it gives me fire under my ass to find the unsub. They better hope I'm not the one to find them cause I have a lot of pent up energy now that I need to unleash," she said pulling her shirt over her head.

Spencer laughed as he re-tied his tie. He stood up and pulled her close. Tucking her hair behind her ears he leaned in for a quick kiss. "Thank you for a great evening." He gave her one more kiss.

"I wish it didn't have to end," she sighed. "But alas, go we must."

They giggled as they gathered their stuff and headed to the car.

"We are going to meet them at the jet. Hotch said they'll catch us up to speed on the flight," Spencer said as he tossed the box of things into the trunk.


	10. Chapter 10

The plane was in motion as the team caught up Chelsea and Spencer. Once Hotch assigned everyone to their positions, Chelsea got up from her seat to grab a coffee and was quickly followed by Emily. As Chelsea filled her cup, she turned to face Emily.

"So, how did your first date go?"

"It was amazing Em. We started out at this restaurant that had the best food I think I've ever eaten and then he took me to this beautiful cabin in the middle of nowhere where we watched a meteor shower," she gushed as she added cream to her coffee.

"Did he kiss you?" she said quietly.

"Well, I kissed him, but he kissed me back so," Chelsea said putting sugar into her cup.

"Did you?" Emily hinted.  
"No, almost, but this damn job."

"Almost? What do you mean almost? Details, details!" Emily said getting louder.

Chelsea shushed her as she glanced back at the team. They were all busy either reading over the case or talking with one another. "Geez Em. I don't want the entire plane to know my sex life thank you."

"Sorry, so explain further please," she said quieter.

"Well, we were making out and we got as far as our shirts before the phone rang," Chelsea said before sipping her coffee.

"Oh man, I've had that happen a few times. Really sucks having all that sexual tension still inside," Emily said frowning.

"Tell me about it. It's taking all I have not to go relieve myself in the bathroom right now," Chelsea said making Emily laugh. "For real, you have no idea how bad I wanted to f…" she trailed off when Morgan suddenly appeared behind her.

"You were saying," he said with his eyebrow raised.

"Just how bad I need to find a place to take a nap. It's going to be a long night," she said walking off.

Emily shrugged and went back to her seat as well.

(xxxxx)

A few days later, Chelsea climbed out of the passenger side door of Emily's car. She adjusted her ripped jeans and pulled her tan jacket tighter around her body. Penelope stepped up next to her and grinned.  
"I'm ready to party," she said.

Chelsea smiled at her friend. She was wearing a purple dress, black gloves, a purple head band and black boots. They followed Emily indoors and saw Derek and Spencer waving at them from a booth. Derek was dressed in jeans and a black tight fitting t-shirt. Spencer on the other hand looked a lot like he did at work. He wore dress pants and a purple dress shirt. His tie matched with stripes and as always he wore his converse sneakers. When they reached the table everyone took turns hugging one another. Chelsea hugged Spencer last and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"You look sexy as usual," she whispered in his ear.

"Oh, thank you. You as well," he said nervously. "Can I take your jacket?" She nodded and turned around to shrug it off as he helped her. Her silver tank top sparkled under the lights and her breasts peered out of the top causing Spencer to swallow hard.

"Keep those eyes up here," Chelsea joked. "At least until later." She flirted causing Spencer to blush. At this point someone began singing horribly off-key.

"And that is why I won't be singing tonight," Emily said as she stole Derek's drink from his hand and took a sip.

"Hey, hey. Get your own," he said snatching it out of her hands.

"Gladly, that is disgusting," she said sticking her tongue out. "Anyone want anything?"

"I'll come with you," Chelsea said. "Spence, you want another?" She nodded towards his half-filled glass.  
"Uh, sure," he said.

Emily and Chelsea walked off to get drinks, while Spencer sat back down.

"So how are things going with you two?" Derek asked as he threw his drink back.

"Good, I think. We haven't been able to go on a date since our last," he said shrugging.

"Oh the one we had to interrupt? I heard Chelsea whispering to Emily about it on the jet. She seemed really happy, but stopped talking when I reached them," Derek said.

"And why would she stop talking?" Penelope said wiggling her eyebrows. Spencer started blushing. "Ooooo, I knew it was something juicy. Did you two …" she made a circle with her hand and shoved her finger in and out of it.

"Garcia!" Spencer gasped turning nearly maroon, while Derek burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Emily asked as she set drinks down on the table.

"Well, it clearly has to do with Spencer," Chelsea said looking at the color of his skin.

"Nothing," Penelope shrugged innocently.

"Mmhmm, I'll find out later," Chelsea said eyeing up Spencer who avoided looking at her. "So I know you aren't going to sing for me shy guy, but are you going to dance with me?" She asked before taking a sip of her drink.

"Uh, I don't know. I'm not really a good dancer either," he said.

"It doesn't matter if you are a good dancer. It's supposed to be fun. A chance to let loose and be free," Chelsea said as she grabbed his arm. "Come on. Come dance with me."

"Let me get a little more liquid courage in me and then I'll reconsider," he said taking a big gulp of his Scotch.

An hour later, Spencer had become tipsy enough that he didn't care what anyone thought of him. He stood on the dance floor dancing with Chelsea and Emily, while Derek danced with Penelope. Spencer decided to take a break and went back to the table. Sitting down he loosened his tie and chugged a beer sitting on the table. Chelsea wandered over to him.

"Worn out?" she asked as she, too, drank some of the beer he was holding.

"A bit. I don't ever dance," he said feeling a little lightheaded.

"You dance fine. You just think too much," she said as she ran a finger down his chest. Their faces were getting closer together, when Emily appeared at the table. She lifted her drink and guzzled it down.

"Hey you two, keep it PG," she said grinning.

"Don't be jealous," Chelsea said as she sat down on Spencer's lap and wrapped her arm around his neck. She felt him slowly place his hand around her waist. "Are you going to sing?"

"You can't get me drunk enough to do that," Emily laughed. "You?"

"No, I don't sing," Chelsea said. Spencer shot her a look. At their previous date she said she used to sing and dance. He was about to bring it up, but decided to wait until they were alone to ask. "I'm hungry. I want pizza." She suddenly said.

"For such a skinny girl, you're always hungry," Spencer joked as he squeezed her side causing her to jump and giggle.

"Damn straight I am," she laughed.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea climbed the stairs to her apartment feeling tired, but less drunk after all the greasy pizza. She could hear Spencer following quietly behind her. When she reached her door, she spun around and smiled flirtatiously.

"You wanna come in?" she offered.

Spencer looked at his watch. "You know its 2am right?"

"Come on old man, come inside and play with me," she said tugging him closer to her.

"I don't know Chels," he hesitated.  
"If you are worried that I'm too drunk, I've sobered up immensely after eating. Watch." She proceeded to demonstrate her sobriety by touching her fingers to her nose and repeating the alphabet backwards in a rather impressive speed. When she tried to walk a straight line, she tripped and fell into his arms.  
"Wow, you passed with flying colors," Spencer joked.

"I tripped on something," she frowned as he helped her stand back up.

"Yea, on air," he teased as she rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'll come in."

Chelsea turned and unlocked her door. When she flipped on the light switch he could see her house was decorated for Christmas. Her tree was modest, but full of ornaments. She had lights around her windows, a nativity on her mantle, and other items spread out across the tiny living space.

"I like your decorations," he commented.

"Thanks. I love Christmas! It's my favorite holiday by far. The music, the lights, the food, the joy that it brings," she said as her eyes sparkled.

"It's a favorite of mine as well, although Halloween comes in first for me," he said as he admired her tree.

"I like every holiday really. I love stepping away from the hum drum of everyday life to celebrate something. I decorate for nearly every holiday," she said as she plugged in all of her lights.

The room filled with the soft glow of the holiday and brought a smile to her face. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Just a water would be fine," he said as he looked over each ornament one at a time. It's there that he noticed an ornament with a young family. A father, a mother, and three girls. They looked so happy. He didn't hear Chelsea come up behind him.

"That's my Mom, Dad, and sisters," she said gently.

Spencer jumped a little. "Which … which one is you?" Chelsea pointed to the middle child.

"Cute. Your family is beautiful," he said. He remembered that when they first met she told him that she didn't have family. There was something in her past that she wanted to keep hidden, but it was clearly haunting her. When he turned towards her to question it, she was staring at the ornament with a glazed look in her eye. "You alright?" was all he managed to say.

She snapped out of it. "Yea, I'm fine." She walked over to the couch and patted the seat next to her. Spencer walked over and sat down with the water she handed him. He took a sip and placed it on the table next to him. He turned back to face Chelsea and she was already staring him down mischievously.

"What?" he asked blushing.

"I'm just admiring how incredibly sexy you are," she flirted. Spencer turned a deep shade of red. She giggled. "And how easily I can make you blush." She ran her hand across his red cheeks before scooting closer. "Come here," she said softly.

He moved closer to her as well before leaning in to kiss her lips. As the kiss intensified, Chelsea threw her leg over him and straddled his lap. She quickly undid his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt. Spencer put his hands on top of hers to stop her.  
"What's the matter?" she asked feeling self-conscious.

"Nothing, I just … are we moving too fast?" he asked worrying that having sex too soon would ruin their relationship. Not that he knew much about relationships, but he did read about them.

"If you don't want to, we don't have to," Chelsea said sincerely. "Spencer, I like you whether we have sex or not. This isn't something we have to do. I can wait if you feel we are rushing things."

"Ugh I don't know. My body is telling me yes, cause I want to so bad, but my head is telling me to slow it down," he said rubbing his face with his hands.

"It's ok, seriously. I'm ok with slowing it down. It's only our second date. Why don't we put on a movie and just relax?" she suggested as she rebuttoned his shirt.

She could see the embarrassment rushing across his face. She cupped his face in her hands. "Spencer, look at me." His eyes were dark tonight. "When the time is right we won't need to question it. It will just happen." She kissed him quickly before getting up to grab the remote. Coming back to the couch she stretched out and scooted towards the edge leaving room for him. Spencer obeyed and snuggled in behind her wrapping an arm across her waist. They soon both drifted off watching _It's a Wonderful Life_.

(xxxxx)

Spencer woke up the next morning and realized he was alone on the couch. He sat up and stretched before heading towards the kitchen where he heard noise. Peaking his head in, he saw Chelsea mixing something in a bowl.

"Morning," he said.

Chelsea glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "Good morning. Hungry?" She asked as she continued to mix.

"Not yet, but I will be soon," he said as he stifled a yawn.

She turned to face him and giggled. His hair was every which way. He looked like he'd been through a tornado.

"My hair?" he asked nodding in acknowledgement.

"I didn't think you could get any cuter, but seeing your wake up hair just proved me wrong," she said as she grabbed a coffee cup. "Help yourself," she said handing him the cup.

"Thank you."

Spencer began to fill his cup, while Chelsea began making pancakes. She poured the batter onto the skillet and the smell of it instantly hit Spencer's nose. "That smells good."

"Of course it does. Its pancakes," she joked as she popped a blueberry into her mouth. "I also made blueberry muffins." She pointed to a basket that was covered by a towel.

"Geez, when did you get up?" he asked as he lifted the towel and looked at the muffins.

"About 6," she said.

"That's not a lot of sleep," he said furrowing his brow. "Did I cause you to lose sleep?"

"No, not at all. I just had a dream that woke me up and I couldn't fall back to sleep. So I figured I'd make breakfast," she said.

"What was the dream?" he asked leaning against the counter.

"Oh it was nothing. I don't even remember it. Just something strange."

Spencer could tell she was lying to him. He wondered why she was so afraid to talk to him. He wondered if she did this with everyone or just him. Again he felt now wasn't the time and decided not to press the issue further.

After breakfast they both wandered back into the living room. Chelsea yawned and sat down on the couch.

"Why don't you take a nap? You look exhausted," he said.

With that both of their phones made noise. Spencer looked at his phone. "Well there goes that idea. Duty calls. Why don't you get your stuff and drive with me. Maybe you can get a little rest in the car while I get my things?" he said.

Chelsea loved how he thought of her. It had been a long time since anyone had done that for her. She nodded and hurried off into the bedroom to get cleaned up and ready to go.


	11. Chapter 11

45 minutes later the team was seated around the round table waiting for word on their next job assignment. Emily and Chelsea were telling J.J. about their previous night, while Derek and Rossi talked together. Spencer sat quietly. Mostly stealing small glances at Chelsea. He couldn't believe how drawn to her he was in such a short time span. He'd been through a lot in his life and no one made him feel the way she did. It scared him a little. As if she could read his mind, Chelsea suddenly glanced in his direction and offered him a smile. He smiled back, turning red at being caught staring. His thoughts were interrupted by Penelope entering the room.

"Pack your bags kids. You're heading to Kentucky," she said as she pulled up photos on the screen.

Spencer and Chelsea pulled up to the dilapidated house and climbed out of the vehicle. Chelsea adjusted the straps on her vest while Spencer waited for the others to arrive. Within moments the other car pulled up next to them. Derek, Emily, J.J. and Rossi hopped out of the car.

"Alright, Rossi and Reese I want you to check out the barn, J.J. you and Reid check the downstairs, Prentiss and I will take the upstairs," Derek said as they all pulled their guns from their holsters.

Chelsea and Rossi ran through the backyard looking around for any sign of the unsub. The wind was picking up as a storm neared. When they reached the barn a crack of thunder caused Chelsea to jump. Something felt wrong. They pulled the doors opened and stepped inside. The wind howled through the barn as a few horses made sounds. They looked around with their guns held out in front of them when suddenly a loud thwack sounded behind Chelsea. She spun to see the unsub had hit Rossi with a metal pole. He had fallen to the ground unconscious leaving her to fend for herself. She aimed the gun at the unsub, but he swung the pole hitting her hands. The gun clattered to the ground as Chelsea ran from the barn out the back door.  
"I'm being pursued by the unsub! Back up requested!" she shouted as she ran towards a field of grazing cows. She needed to get to her secondary weapon, but didn't have time to stop to get it. The rain was pouring down on her as she ran through the wet field. As she ran something hit her in the back causing her to fall over into the muddy grass. She flipped over just in time to see the unsub standing over her. He reached down and lifted her up by her hair. Chelsea frantically tried to reach her ankle to get her other gun, but the unsub kept wrestling with her. She felt his arm grip around her neck tightly as the air was being cut off. She swung her arms wildly at him trying to break his grip. Her hands scratched at his face as her vision started to blur. She heard two loud bangs before she fell to the ground gasping for air. As her vision came back she saw J.J. and Spencer kneeling down next to her. They helped her to her feet as she saw that the unsub had been shot and killed.

"Dave?" she choked out.

Spencer was taken off guard by the fact she used his first name. Only Hotch called him Dave.

"He's alright. The medics are looking over him now," J.J. assured her.

"The kids? Are they ok?" she asked of the four kidnapped children.

J.J. looked at Spencer before returning her gaze to Chelsea. Neither had to say anything. She could see by the sadness in their eyes they were too late. The father had murdered his four children. Trying to stay professional Chelsea nodded and slowly walked off towards the car. Spencer reached her side and looked down at her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded as she tried to fight the tears that threatened to spill. Knowing it was against protocol, but not caring she grabbed Spencer's hand and held it tight as they walked through the field together.

(xxxxx)

Spencer pulled up outside of Chelsea's apartment. She sighed as she stared at the brick building.

"You alright?" Spencer tried again.  
She turned to look at him and smiled sadly. "It's just hard sometimes. From outside things look so peaceful and happy, but underneath the veils evil lurks."

He reached over and placed his hand on hers. Her lip was trembling and he felt it was more than just the case that was upsetting her.

"I know the feeling. It's sad to realize that our job will never end because there will always be another murderer hiding in the shadows. But you can't let that consume you. You have to focus on the lives we save and the murders we stop. Otherwise it will drive you crazy," he said. "We make a difference. Even if it's just to one person."

She nodded her head as she wiped a stray tear that escaped.

"Spence, will you stay with me tonight? I don't want to be alone," she said fidgeting with a stray string on her sweater.

"Of course," he said.

Spencer sat on the couch waiting for Chelsea to come out of the bedroom. Once again, his eyes drifted to the picture on the Christmas tree of little Chelsea and her family. He jumped in surprise, when Chelsea appeared next to the couch staring at him. She followed his gaze to the tree and knew exactly what he was staring at. Spencer turned to her and tried to smile. She sat down on the couch in her short black shorts and Philadelphia Eagles t-shirt.

"You want to know about them don't you?" she asked gently staring intently at him.

"Not if you don't want to tell me," he said looking back at her.

Chelsea pulled her knees up to her chest and faced Spencer. She chewed on her cheeks as she thought about how to start and what to say.

"Spencer, I want to tell you about them. I really do, but I just can't. When I try to find the words, I can't find my voice," she said.

"What are their names?" he asked. Hoping to start with something simple.

"Annabelle and Samantha," she said smiling at the thought of them.

"Were you the oldest?"

"No, I was the middle child. Annabelle was two years older than me and Sam was two years younger than me," she said.

It didn't go past Spencer that she used past tense rather than present, but he didn't point it out. He just sat quietly listening to her.

"Annabelle loved sports. She was the tomboy of the family. She almost always came home dirty or with ripped clothes. It drove Mom nuts. Sam was the princess. She hated getting dirty and only wore dresses. She played with Barbies, while Annabelle played with GI Joe." Her face scrunched up as she suddenly started laughing. "I remember one time, Sam was playing kitchen and Annabelle ran into the room pretending she wanted to play. Instead once the table was set, she flipped it over and threw the plates everywhere screaming we were under attack by aliens. Sam cried for like 30 minutes."

Spencer smiled as he watched her giggle over the memory.

"So were you a tomboy or a princess?" Spencer asked her.

"I was a little of both. I loved playing with Anna, but I also enjoyed playing dolls with Sam," she said. "For the middle child, I was oddly the quiet one who caused little problems. It was usually Anna getting into trouble and Sam was the whiner. Everything upset her. She was the drama queen. I stayed in the shadows. My dad used to call me Chameleon, because I could blend into any surrounding and nobody would know I was there." She suddenly looked overcome with grief. "It's probably what saved me," she said barely above a whisper.

Spencer reached out and pulled her into his arms. He felt her shuddering as she gently cried against his chest. He wanted to assure her everything would be ok, but instead he just let her cry. As he rubbed her back and held her tight, he felt her slowly getting heavier. Eventually he heard her even breathing and realized she'd fallen asleep in his arms. He didn't want to move to disturb her, so he slowly leaned back into the couch, still holding her close to his body. He grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over her. Once they were both settled in, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep as well.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea's eyes opened and she realized she was asleep in the living room. She tilted her head up and saw Spencer sound asleep with his head flopped back on edge of the couch. He looked so uncomfortable. She adjusted herself to face him further and gently placed her lips to his. He jumped slightly at the touch, but smiled with his eyes still closed.

"Good morning," she said.

"Morning," he replied slowly opening his eyes.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep on you," she said sitting up so he could move.

"No, its fine," he said as he lifted a hand to rub his neck.

"Come here," she ordered him.

She climbed behind him and began massaging his neck. She could feel the knots that had formed overnight. As she gently worked at each knot she heard him let out a little groan. She felt herself get turned on by the sound. She ran her fingers up the back of his neck and into his messy hair as she placed small kisses along his neck. He turned around to face her, grabbing her face as he kissed her passionately. She could feel his desire as he pulled her closer to his body. Pulling back slightly, she lifted her shirt over her head and laid down flat on the couch. Lifting a finger she summoned him forward. Spencer pulled his own shirt off as he leaned over top of her.

"I'm afraid to go any further," he said.

"It's ok if you don't want to. I told you before I'm willing to wait," she said misunderstanding him.

"No silly girl. I want you for sure. I just don't want to be interrupted again," he said as she started laughing.

"Well, we better get a move on it before that phone rings," she said pulling him down on top of her.

As they kissed one another, Chelsea could feel his need pressing into her. Spencer massaged her breasts as his tongue wrestled with hers.

"Spencer, I want you now," she said burning with desire.

With that he hooked his fingers into her shorts and panties, yanking them both off together leaving her exposed in front of him. Chelsea tried to get his pants off, but Spencer backed off the couch and undid them himself. Within seconds he was back over top of her looking deep into her blue eyes.

"Are you ready?" he asked her as he brushed a stray hair from her face.

"More than you know," she said as she pulled his face down to hers.

They kissed feverishly as she felt him slowly pushing into her. He gave one hard thrust and fully entered her body causing her to cry out.

"Are you alright?" he asked leaning back to look at her.

She nodded as she ran a hand across his cheek. "Yes. Now make love to me," she ordered.

Spencer smiled and kissed her nose. Soon he was pushing himself in and out of her as she moaned and shrieked. He felt her muscles tightening around him as she neared her climax. He tried to keep himself from finishing before she did. Suddenly, Chelsea screamed as she came and he lost control and followed quickly behind.

Spencer collapsed on top of her. He could feel her heart racing against his chest as he panted to catch his own breath. After a moment, he slid to the side of Chelsea and turned her to face him so they both fit on the couch. Chelsea threw her leg over Spencer's body entwining them.

"That was amazing," she said running her hand through his messy hair.

"Mmm hmm," was all he could manage.

Suddenly their phones went off. They both groaned and laughed at the same time.  
"Well, at least we made it through this time," Chelsea giggled.

"We'll have to make it a goal to see if next time we can make it through a cuddle session after," Spencer joked.

"I like the way you think nightingale," she said sitting up to grab her clothes.

"Nightingale?" Spencer asked as he slipped on his pants.

Chelsea didn't say anything. She just winked at him and walked off naked towards the bedroom. She stopped in the doorway and turned around.  
"You wanna shower?" she asked seductively.

"You're going to be the death of me," he said as he followed her into the room.


	12. Chapter 12

Criminal Minds Story: Season 5, Episode 8: Outfoxed (all credit goes to the amazing writers of Criminal Minds). I have only added parts for Chelsea to fit into the story

(XXXXX)

Spencer and Chelsea walked towards the conference room together, laughing about a corny joke Spencer just shared with her.

"That is seriously cheesy," Chelsea giggled.

"Ah, but it made you laugh, so it's still good," Spencer said smiling brightly at her.

"Alright, here's one for you. How do you think the unthinkable?"

Spencer furrowed his brow and repeated what she said in his head. "I don't know."

"With an ithburg," she said before busting out laughing.

"What? I don't get it," Spencer said chuckling.

"It's a lisp Spence. How do you sink the unsinkable? With an iceburg. You say the whole joke like you have a lisp. It's brilliant," she said laughing at her own joke.  
"Wow, that is pretty bad," he said rolling his eyes, but still smiling.

When they reached the conference room, Rossi blocked the doorway.

"Hey Rossi, how's it," Spencer started to say, but was interrupted.  
"I'm sorry I need a minute alone with Chelsea," he said with a somber look on his face.

Chelsea looked at Spencer who looked just as puzzled as she did.

"Sure," Chelsea said as she followed Rossi to his office.

Once she stepped inside, Rossi closed the door.  
"Is everything alright?" Chelsea asked.

"I've kept my word and haven't told anyone," he started as he leaned back against his desk.

"Did someone find out?" she asked tensing up.

"No, nobody knows anything yet. Though I still think you can trust the team with this, but I'll leave that to you to decide," he said as she nodded her thanks. "But look the reason I am concerned and think you should consider sharing a little of your history is the case we are about to embark on."

He folded his arms across his chest. Chelsea looked down at her feet.

"I knew a time would come when this would happen," she said as her voice cracked with emotion.

"I'm worried it's going to be hard on you and bring back a lot of memories," he said.

Chelsea nodded and licked nervously at her lips.

"If you want I can make an excuse to have you off the case," he offered.  
"No … no. I … I can handle it. I … need to move forward otherwise why am I even here," she said looking up into his eyes.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded though her eyes were telling a different story.

"At least think about opening up to the team about this. It may make a world of difference," Rossi said one more time.

Chelsea nodded before turning to leave the room. When she entered the conference room, she felt Spencer's eyes immediately fall on her. She walked over and sat down next to him. He looked at her with worried eyes.

"Everything alright?" he whispered to her.

Chelsea looked at him and gave a fake smile. "Yea, he had a question about some paperwork I submitted."

Spencer knew she was lying, but before he could talk to her further Hotch and Penelope started the briefing.

"My sweet reality heroes, we are up against a quite sickening slaughter," Penelope said as she clicked the remote to access photos.

A picture of three family members buried in a backyard caused Chelsea to drop her head and pretend to look at her tablet. She closed her eyes as a wave of nausea hit her.

"This is the Downey family. Three nights ago the mother, son, and daughter were murdered at their home," Penelope began.  
Chelsea zoned out as she felt her heart pounding in her ears. She took deep, quiet breaths as she tried to visualize happy thoughts. She slid her hands under the table, so nobody would see them shaking. She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped, banging her knee on the table.  
"I'm sorry," Spencer apologized. "I didn't … mean to startle you."

She looked up at him and saw that only Penelope, Rossi, and Spencer remained. They were all staring at her.

"Oh, it's ok," she said forcing a laugh. "I guess I was studying those images a bit too intensely." She looked over at Rossi who had pursed his lips together tightly. She gave him a look telling him she was alright. He sighed and left the room.

"You wanna ride with me?" Spencer offered.

Chelsea nodded as she clumsily grabbed her items and followed Spencer out the door. Penelope frowned at Spencer who shrugged.

(xxxxx)

On the plane Spencer noted how overly quiet Chelsea was. It looked as though she wasn't paying attention to anything they were discussing. Once they arrived they all drove to the Downey home to begin their investigation. The house was a beautiful two story home, with a cute white porch and an American flag blowing in the breeze. Spencer and Chelsea arrived to the scene before everyone else. Spencer wandered to the backyard, while Chelsea stared at the items all over the porch. The balloons, the teddy bears, the candles. She picked up a construction paper heart that said 'Lucy, I will never forget you, Betty.' Chelsea bit back the tears that threatened her eyes, when a voice sounded behind her.

"Are you with the FBI?"

Chelsea turned to see a woman with short strawberry blond hair looking at her.

"Yes ma'am. SSA Chelsea Reese," she said holding out her hand to shake the woman's hand.

"Field agent Ann Hudson. Sorry to meet under such circumstances," the lady said.  
Chelsea nodded her agreement.  
"Is more of the team coming?" Ann asked just as the other SUV pulled up to the home.

Hotch, Rossi, Emily, and J.J. greeted Ann, as Chelsea led them to the backyard where Spencer was staring at the family pool. As they reached him as a jet flew over their heads. Spencer turned around to see them walking towards him.

"Hey. Was the whole family killed? I didn't see mention of the father?" he said.

"Uh, Hudson this is Dr. Reid," Rossi introduced before anyone answered.

She nodded at Spencer who waved at her.

"Field agent Ann Hudson. The father is serving in Iraq. Three nights ago the cops found his family buried right over there."

The team walked over to the grave site and peered at the bodies looking back at them.

"Buried?" Chelsea said not noticing everyone staring at her. These were things they discussed at the office and on the plane.

"Neighbors heard the dog barking. Came over he was scratching at the grave. Lucy, their oldest child, she's still in her swim suit," Emily reiterated.

Hotch looked away from Chelsea and focused back on the case. "What does the father know?"

"Some of it. He was on patrol. Took his unit a couple of days to reach him. He arrives today," Ann explained.

"Last year the Williams family was killed and found exactly the same way. They lived in New Port News," Rossi said staring at the victims.

"The father Dan William was also serving overseas," Derek added.

"Now the police are overwhelmed and getting serious heat from the military. We need answers fast," Ann said folding her arms across her chest.

"As do the media. They are already calling this the work of a serial killer," J.J. said.

"They are right. It is," Hotch replied making J.J. frown at the thought.

Ann looked at the grave and back at Hotch. "But why bury them? I mean it can't be to hide the bodies."

"It's a sign of remorse," Rossi explained.  
"And when they're done being remorseful … this will happen again," Derek frowned as another jet flew over.

"It's about to get way louder and much busier," Ann said looking at the team as they directed their attention to the sky. "Tomorrow is Langley's 50th anniversary airshow."

"The father of the first family, Dan Williams, where is he now?" Derek asked.

"He put in for another tour of Iraq," she frowned. "An IED killed him two months ago."

"Whoever did this knew both fathers were serving oversees."

Chelsea was still staring at the graves. She couldn't take her eyes off the bodies of the young kids and that mother sticking out of the dirt. Spencer looked over at her with concern, but turned his attention back to the group when he heard Emily mention Laura Downey's wedding ring was missing.

"Any other valuables?" Emily asked.  
"You'll have to ask the husband. From the Williams home only jewelry and watches were missing," Ann said.

"The unsub only took what he could carry, which means he's most likely on foot," Spencer suggested.

"There was a photo on the wall in the kitchen, I'd like to see it," Rossi suddenly said to Ann.

"Sure."

"There's no sign of sexual assault in the William's case. What about Lucy?" Hotch asked.

"Nothing on the coroner's report. Multiple suspects?" Ann wondered.

"The mother was dragged out of the house. If there were multiple suspects they would've carried her," Hotch explained as Ann nodded her understanding.

"They knew the father was absent, therefore, the dominate threat was absent. So we could be looking for a single suspect," Derek said.

"No sign of forced entry," Ann shared.

"No need. Lucy was in the pool, back door was open, the unsub walked right in," Hotch said.

"Which means Lucy probably died last," Spencer said before glancing back at Chelsea.

She was still in the same spot. This time he saw her rubbing her hands together nervously like she was wringing out a towel.

"In both cases the girls were suffocated and not shot. I don't think it's a coincidence," Hotch said.

J.J. pulled her cell phone out of her pocket at the sound of it ringing. She accepted the call.  
"Hey Garcia. You're on speaker."

"We just got a call from Virginia Super Max Prison. One of the inmates there has received two envelopes in the last two days. First envelope had clippings of the New Port News killing. The second envelope had media clippings of the Downey family and in the second envelope was a note saying 'Look at what I've done' and both pieces of mail have been signed by an admirer." Penelope said as she typed away at her computer.

"Who's the inmate?" J.J. asked.  
"That's the part that … Carl Arnold," she said as she deflated.

"The fox?" J.J. said.

"He's back," Garcia confirmed.

"Ok thanks," J.J. said before hanging up.

"Family annihilator, absent father, wedding rings. It's similar," Hotch said looking at Derek.

"To what?" Ann asked confused.

"Four years ago Carl Arnold, aka the Fox, killed 8 families," Derek explained.

"And just like this case, he took wedding rings. Only he took them as trophies," Spencer continued.

"He'd hide in the bushes out their homes," Derek said.

"So we're working with a copycat her?" Ann wondered.

Hotch shook his head. "It's too early to assume anything."

"It could bias the profile," Spencer told her.

"Not to mention the police, the media, and the military would jump all over it," Emily said shaking her head.

"Until we're positive none of this information leaves the 8 of us. Hotch, you gave evidence at Arnold's trial. Maybe you should go see him?" Derek suggested.

"I was thinking the same thing. Prentiss you're with me," he said as they walked off together. "The rest of you continue to work on the profile. J.J. have Garcia check on all of Arnold's prison correspondents and visitors for the last four years."

J.J. nodded just as her phone beeped at her. "Ok Captain Joseph Downey has arrived back at the station," she said frowning.

"Let's go," Derek said to the team as they walked off.

Spencer stayed a moment to wait for Chelsea. He furrowed his brow and walked over to her.  
"Chelsea, are you alright?"

She looked up at him and he could see her eyes were glazed over with tears threatening to spill at any moment. He grabbed her arms and leaned down towards her. "Baby what's wrong?"

At any other moment, Chelsea would have melted into the floor to hear Spencer calling her a pet name, but now it had little effect on her haywire emotions. She swallowed hard and looked into Spencer's eyes. She could see the worry in them. Lifting a hand to his cheek, she smiled half-heartedly.  
"No nightingale. This one hurts, but I'll be alright," she assured him.

He still looked at her wanting to know more, but she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the front of the house. He knew he had to let it go for now.

(xxxxx)

Back at the station they stood around the bulletin board trying to figure out the profile. They were all frustrated at lack of information. Hotch had put Derek in charge of the team, while he and Prentiss interviewed Carl Arnold. Derek felt a load of pressure on his shoulders to fill those shoes.

"If this unsubs copying the fox, then we profile like the fox," he said to the group.

"Carl Arnold worked as a psychologists assistant right?" Rossi asked Spencer, who sat halfway on the board table listening.

"Yea which made it easy for him to watch, target, and learn about the victims from a distance," Spencer replied.

"Yea it also made him hard to find," Derek sighed.

"Like the fox our man here found a way to hide in plain sight," Rossi said.

"But he's probably from two completely different units. Williams' a medic, Downey an army captain," Chelsea said as she looked up from her notes.

"Someone knew that military connection," Rossi said as he looked back at the board.

"Both families were attacked within a month of the father's being deployed," Derek stated.

"Gave them time to settle in. Get comfortable that the father's weren't there," Rossi added.

"And once inside the home, the fox would live with the families and become the father," Derek said as he folded his arms across his chest.

"But not this unsub. He just walked in and dispensed of the family. Living with them wasn't part of the fantasy," Rossi said as he leaned on one of the chairs.

The sound of heels walking toward them were heard, taking Rossi's attention away from the table. Ann walked straight to Rossi holding out a manilla envelope for him.

"Agent Rossi, the picture you requested. Thanks to you we pulled some prints off it it," she said smiling at him.

Rossi opened the envelope and slid the picture out. He looked at it for a moment, analyzing it.

"And all the prints are on Lucy. The bullet hit the father … dead center," he said.

"The prints match that of the New Port News killings. It's the same killer," Ann told them.

"Family annihilators like the fox start with one victim," Derek said to Ann.

"Once they feel capable they move on to a second victim. They don't start with entire families. There are more victims we just haven't found 'em yet," Derek said sadly.

Spencer picked up a picture of Lucy and looked at it. "So Lucy dies last, alone. This by itself doesn't really mean anything. But when we look again at the Williams file we notice that the majority of the foreign finger prints came from Karen Williams' room, which means the unsub spent most of his time in there with Karen," he said before getting off the table to look at the bulletin board.

"Then he must have separated her from the rest of the family," Ann said.

"Lucy Downey was already in the pool. That much was done for the unsub," Rossi said to her.

"Then this unsub is driven by some other kind of compulsion. Some other need," Derek deduced.

Spencer looked back from the board. "Hotch was right. This wasn't coincidence it's a possible signature."

"We need to look at each of the victims as a hub. With lives outside of their own families," Rossi said.

Chelsea chewed nervously on her cheeks as she stared at the board from her chair. She let everyone's words process in her mind. "Well each one of them has their own connections outside the family. School friends, tutors, business colleagues," she said looking at Spencer.

He nodded at her. "Each one of these people are considered access points back to the family," he added to her statement.

"That could take weeks," Ann complained.

"Well, you have time. For remorse to decide to kill again the unsub will go through a gamut of emotions," Derek explained to her.

"Could be another year before the unsub feels the desire to start to kill again," Spencer said.

They looked up from their spots as J.J. rushed towards them. She sighed with exhaustion written all over her face. "We have full access to all military records for the fathers."

"Well now we at least have access to the main hub between families," Rossi said feeling as though they were finally making progress. He walked over to a marker board where Spencer had made a circle chart. The chart was labeled with the names of the family members and who they knew. Rossi grabbed a black marker and connected the dad's together. "The dads," he said.

"Alright well, let's find out about what connects them," Derek said.

Suddenly Ann's phone rang interrupting their thoughts.

"Hudson," she said. "You're kidding?" Her face visibly paled. She thanked the person on the phone before hanging up. She took a deep breath while the others stared at her waiting to hear what was wrong. "There's been another murder."

(xxxxx)

Spencer walked into the backyard with Chelsea, while Derek, Rossi, and Ann went into the kitchen. Spencer and Chelsea stared at the buried bodies while waiting for the others. They both stood there quietly standing. Spencer looked over at Chelsea to see if she was alright. She had a glazed look on her face again. Slowly reaching out he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She looked up at him and half smiled.

"I'm ok," she assured him.

They heard the back door open and let go of each other's hand.

"Girl was suffocated not shot right?" Derek was asking Ann.

"Yes," Ann replied.

Derek sighed as he bent down to look at the bodies. "Just like the other two."

"Her name is Dani. She was 14," Ann said.

Spencer heard Chelsea gasp a little. He shot her a quick look and saw tears filling her eyes. She shook her head at him as she took a few deep breaths.

"And the father?" Derek asked unaware of Chelsea's distress.

"Afghanistan," Ann replied.

Derek angrily rubbed his hand on his forehead.

"Does this rule out remorse?" Ann asked.

"Yes it does," Rossi responded.

"So what is it now?" Ann wondered.

"The escalation between kills indicates a major psychological break," Derek responded.

"How has it escalated?" She said confused.

"Time frames between the kills has gone up from a year to just three days," Rossi tried to explain.

Spencer looked back to the group trying to focus on the case and not his concern for Chelsea.

"The unsub, something has dramatically changed," he said.

"Some kind of major external stressor has forced this unsub to feel the need to kill again without any remorse," Chelsea said in a tight voice that only Spencer seemed to notice.

"Mirror Neurons and stressors related to the unsub past may have triggered this. The strongest of which is smell," Spencer said.

Suddenly four jets flew over their heads. Chelsea looked up at the sky and had a thought.

"It's sound, Spence. The Williams' were killed a year ago," she said looking at him.

"Were there any military maneuvers going on in Langley at that time?" Rossi asked Ann.

"The annual airshow. But nothing as big as this," she said.

(xxxxx)

Back at the station, Derek was on the phone with Hotch explaining what they figured out.

"Morgan if the Langley airshow is the stressor, than Carl's admirer doesn't fit the profile. It's just someone trying to throw us off track," Hotch said angrily.

"A psychopath's suffered a major break psychological break doesn't brag about it, Hotch," Derek said frustrated.

"There was nothing that you could've done that would've saved that family today," Hotch tried to reassure him.

"Well that's _if_ I'm right about the profile," Derek said doubting himself.

Spencer listened the conversation while looking through a stack of files at the table.

"I think you are. Carl's admirer doesn't have anything to do with these killings. I'm sure of it," Hotch stated.

"Well, either way we need to know who is," Derek growled before hanging up.

Chelsea quickly dialed Penelope to find out what she found out on her end. Sadly she was just as lost as they were. It seemed this unsub was untraceable.

"Controlling Williams' emails, satellite phone calls, landline phone calls, family photos … their life. All of it," she said exasperated.

"What about the Downey's?" Chelsea asked her.

"They're up next and there's a ton to go through," Penelope warned.

"Finger prints Garcia?" Rossi said.

"Zip. There's nothing here. I'm sorry folks," she said helplessly.

"Garcia widen the search," Derek said in frustration.

"Morgan, I already did! I've combined every database in this country as wide as it can go," she defended herself.

Spencer looked at a photo of the latest victims when he had a flashback of a seminar he had gone to once. He heard the speaker say "abuse can have a long term effect on any child's brain, but for the abused child who has the high risk trait in the orbital cortex damaged the combination is devastating." He scrunched his face as he thought about this information.

"Alright this air shows military, these fathers are all soldiers fighting a war on our soil. We know that none of these graves are a sign of remorse."

A light went off in Spencer's mind. "Wait a minute, guys look at these graves. What are they reminiscent of?" He asked.

"Mass graves," Chelsea said.

"Exactly, which would indicated the unsub experienced early pubescent three dimensional mirror neurons that reflect an event similar to the one they're creating. I think this unsub was born into conflict."

"Where was he born into conflict. When was the last time we saw anything like mass graves in the US?" Rossi said confused.

"We haven't. Not in our lifetimes," Spencer replied.

"Not within our borders. VICAP is national, not international," Derek said.

"Penelope, international databases," Chelsea relayed.

"Interpol is the biggest. If they did it, they're in it," she stated.

"Well, it's pretty obvious he's done this before, but the question is where and why?" Derek stated before dialing Emily's number leaving the room.

Spencer walked over to Chelsea and sat next to her. Rossi went off to update J.J.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"I know you are worried about me and I promise I will explain. I just need to get through this case first," she said laying her hand on top of his.

Spencer looked around the station to make sure nobody was looking in their direction. He leaned over and kissed her lips quickly.

"Just know I'm here for you if you need me," he assured her.

They heard Rossi and Derek returning so they moved an appropriate distance away from each other.

"Alright, we'll work it in right now. Prentiss thinks that the unsub might be a woman," Derek said to Spencer and Chelsea. He could tell he'd walked in on a moment, because they were both blushing and trying to act natural. He decided to ignore it.

"That's why we couldn't find a sexual motive," Rossi said.

"Wherever she is from, her father is a military man," Derek continued.

Suddenly Penelope's voice sounded. Chelsea and Spencer completely forgot that she was on speaker phone. They looked at each other and back at the phone. She probably heard everything. Chelsea knew she was going to have to answer questions.

"Derek, I've got a hit. Interpol two hits … three hits … three different crime scenes, three different cities. The first is a grab 1998. A woman and her 8 month old baby are both killed and then two years later same prints show up in Modena, Italy. Then 2007 London, England a young couple both shot," she said to the team.

"You were right. She has killed before," Ann said to Derek.

"Zagreb is the capital city of Croatia," Spencer said out of nowhere.

"Is that significant?" Ann asked him with a furrowed brow.

"Uh, between 1991 and 95 they fought a bitter battle for independence," he said as if this explained it all.

"Serbian forces tried to ethnically cleanse over 40,000 Bosnian muslims," Rossi added to Spencer's statement.

"And at some point between the last two years she moved to America," Derek said as the pieces of the puzzle started to fall together.

"She's on the run," Chelsea said.

"Right into a city filled with military families," Rossi sighed.

Ann still looked between them confused at what they were trying to say.

"The only mass graves reminiscent of the ones the unsub created were found all over Bosnia after the war, but none of them rivaled that of Srebrenica," Spencer said explaining where he believed the unsub was from.

"Dutch UN forces created a safe haven for refuges," Penelope said.

"Then in 1995 Bosnian-Serb forces surrounded the town," Spencer said as everyone realized his point.

"A psychopath born in the middle of that conflict? That's not a good mix," Rossi said shaking his head.

"She's exacting her life experiences on the victims," Spencer stated.

"You think this woman was there?" Ann asked a bit skeptical.

"Well think about it. Langley's filling up with civilians and military vehicles just like Srebrenica," Derek said to her.

"Can you determine her age?" Ann asked.

"Based on victimology each of these girls is no older than 15," Derek responded.

"The Balkan war lasted between 93 and 95. So if the girls represent the unsub she's somewhere in her late 20's," Spencer deduced.

"How did Srebrenica end?" Ann said afraid to hear the answer.

"It was a massacre," Spencer said as the room grew eerily silent.

(xxxxx)

The team had just finished giving their profile to the officers when Penelope called Derek's line. He put her on speaker phone and before he could greet her she went straight into findings.

"Ok guys, I've really got something. All of these photos, every one of them was uploaded to a user website called Photobug," she said.

"Photobug?" Rossi said scrunching his face.

"Yea members can upload photos, videos, email, webcam, chats. I … I use it all the time," J.J. said suddenly feeling like she needed to delete her profile.

"Every one of the families extensively used this site for months. Even years," Penelope stated.

Rossi grabbed the photo he examined earlier and flipped it over to see the words Photobug written all over the back.

"All of these family photos were printed by Photobug," he said.

"Is it protected?" Ann asked Penelope.

"Not from people who run it," Spencer replied first.

"It's a great way for military families to keep in touch," Chelsea said.

"And a perfect way to target a family without anybody's knowledge," Derek frowned.

"They outsource to people all over the country. So I took your profile, hacked into their employee database and came up with this list of potentials. One of which is a match that screams homicidal bitch. Her name is Miranda Jakar. She's an orphan born in Sarajevo during 1982. She was adopted by a family in Srebrenica."

"Let's go!" Derek called as the team raced from the room.

By the time they reached the unsubs house she was gone and off to her next victims house. Rossi had found a photo of the next targeted family so they piled back into the SUV and headed towards the location Penelope sent them on their phones.

(xxxxx)

Derek and Chelsea ran upstairs, while Spencer and Rossi checked for clearance downstairs. The house was dark due to nighttime and only a few lights were on in the house. When Derek reached the end of the hallway, he saw a mom and her son sitting on the bed crying. He lifted his finger to keep them quiet when he was knocked into another room. Derek wrestled the unsub as two shots were fired hitting the wall behind him. Spencer and Rossi ran up the stairs to help. Another gun shot was heard when Spencer and Rossi reached the top of the stairs. Rossi grabbed the mom and son from Chelsea and led them to safety. Chelsea ran to the bedroom with her gun raised to help Morgan, but stopped when she saw him sitting on the floor panting. He was staring at the lifeless body of the woman he just killed.  
"Morgan?" Chelsea squeaked out.

Morgan looked at her and Spencer a moment breathing hard. "I'm alright … I'm alright," he sighed.

Spencer held out his hand to help Derek up off the floor. The three of them stared at the unsub before leaving the room to find the oldest daughter. They were all ready to go home.


	13. Chapter 13

On the flight home everyone fell instantly asleep. Even Hotch. They were all exhausted from this incredibly complicated case. When they arrived back home, Spencer drove Chelsea home. He didn't bring up the case or push her to talk, because he knew she was worn out. When they pulled into her complex, she quietly exited his car. They walked to her apartment without a sound. Inside the apartment, Chelsea sighed with relief.

"It feels good to be home," she said placing her keys on the table. "It's kind of late. I know you probably want to go home too," she said though her eyes seemed to be pleading with him to stay.

"Do you want me to stay?" he asked.

Chelsea looked at her feet and bit her bottom lip. He could see she was trying to control her emotions.

"Chels," he started to say, when she burst into tears.

He reached out and pulled her into a hug as she sobbed into his shoulder. He rubbed her back as she broke down in front of him.

"Please … please don't go. I need you right now," she cried as she clutched tightly to his jacket.

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise," he assured her as he kissed the top of her head.

He led her over to the couch and grabbed a box of tissues for her. She blew her nose and looked at him with sheepish eyes.

"I'm sorry, I know I look crazy right now," she apologized.

"No. Don't talk like that. It's ok," he said grabbing her hand and kissing the back of it. "I'm worried about you though. I'm trying not to profile you, but I can't help it. It sort of happens without me trying. Like second nature. Was your family …" he trailed off not able to speak the words.

Chelsea nodded as more tears streamed from her eyes.

"When?" he asked.  
"When I was 12," she said grabbing a pillow and snuggling it to her chest.

"What … umm happened?" he asked afraid to push her too far.

She looked away from him for a moment, trying to regain composure. She looked back at him when she felt him scoot closer and placed his hands on her knees.

"It was February 15. I still remember how beautiful that day was. We had a heavy snow that afternoon. I spent the day sledding with my sisters and skating on the pond behind our house," she said smiling at the memory, but then her eyes darkened. "I was sleeping with my sister, Annabelle when I heard a noise. I got out of bed to see what it was and when I opened the door I saw a shadow going into my parent's room. I followed it thinking maybe it was my dad. When I stepped into the doorway I heard my dad scream in pain as the shadow slammed a knife into his body … over and over," she said as a fresh stream of tears poured from her eyes.

Spencer swallowed hard as his heart raced.

"My mom started screaming and jumped up to run, but the shadow pushed her to the floor and started stabbing her in the back. She saw me. She saw me standing there and looked at me. Her eyes … her eyes looked so sad. She knew it was going to be the last time she saw me," she said wiping at her face. "I didn't know what to do. I was terrified. I couldn't think clearly. I ran back into my sister's room and climbed into her hamper. It was one of our favorite hiding places."

She stopped for a minute to blow her nose.

"I heard the man killing my sisters. I heard each of them screaming for mom and dad until they were both gone. I assume the man checked my bedroom and saw that my bed was still made and figured I wasn't home. I was too scared to come out of my hiding place, so I stayed in the basket. I stayed there for two days, until a co-worker worried about my father not coming into work called the police."

She licked her lips nervously before wiping at her tears again.  
"I really don't think anyone would have found me. I heard police come and go. I heard them taking pictures of the scene and them discussing what had happened. I still don't know to this day what made him look in the hamper, but I was starting to feel faint as the shock was wearing off. I hadn't had anything to eat or drink in days. I heard footsteps in the room and immediately thought the man was back. I closed my eyes tight when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I started screaming when I heard him promising me I was ok and nobody was going to hurt me," she said biting her bottom lip as it trembled.  
Spencer stared at her in stunned silence.

"I was very scared and wouldn't talk to anyone, yet he wouldn't leave my side. He stayed with me at the hospital and continued to talk to me about anything and everything, even though I wouldn't speak a word to him. He'd bring me lunch and desserts. He brought movies and toys for me to play with while I recovered. I found that he was the only person I could trust and eventually I opened up to him," she explained.

Spencer scrunched his brows together.

"You keep saying him. Who is him?" Spencer asked.

"Spencer … the him … the him that saved my life is Dave," she said looking at him.  
"Rossi?" he said surprised.  
Chelsea nodded.

"Yea. Even after everything I went through, he continued to check in on me. When I got out of line with my grandparents, they'd call him and he would come straighten me out. He was the one who pushed me to become an agent. I've made a lot of bad choices in my life, which I won't get into tonight, but Dave, he … he saw the good in me and he never gave up on me. I don't know where I would be if it weren't for him," she said hugging the pillow tightly.

"Wow," Spencer said blinking in shock.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked nervously sniffling.

"Mad? No. Not at all. Surprised, yes," he said nodding.  
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you or anyone for that matter. I don't trust a lot of people and I really don't like to talk about my past. I still haven't gotten over it and I still struggle with the guilt I feel for surviving and not protecting my sisters," she said.

Spencer opened his mouth to defend her, but she cut him off.

"I know. I've heard it before, but it doesn't make it any easier. And someday I will tell the team about my past, but for now I'm not ready. So please don't tell anyone. Dave has promised to keep it quiet as well," she told him.

Spencer felt a bit of pride knowing that she trusted him enough to tell her about her past. It also scared him to see how deep in this relationship they were going even after such a short time.

"I promise," Spencer said. "Does anyone else know?"

"Hotch. It's in my background unfortunately, and Dave recommended me for the job so," she said shrugging. "But he also knows my reluctance to share."

Spencer reached out and ran his hand across her cheek. She leaned into it as some more tears slipped down her face. He held her face in both his hands and ran his thumbs across her tears before giving her a gentle kiss.

"I am so sorry for what you've been through darling," he said leaning his forehead against hers. "I am always here for you if you need me for anything. To talk, to hold you, to distract you," he said kissing her lips again. She smiled and giggled as he chuckled softly.

"Spencer, I know that we haven't known each other long," she said staring down at the couch. "And this is probably a bad thing to say and I don't expect you to say it back or anything," she rambled.

Spencer smiled and placed his finger to her lips. She looked up at him with a scared look in her eyes.  
"I love you too," he said.

He saw her visibly relax as a sparkle lit in her tear filled eyes. She smiled at him and wiped another tear away as she leaned into his arms. She felt him kiss the top of her head again as she snuggled into his chest. He loved her too. She never felt this before. With anyone. It was exhilarating and absolutely terrifying and yet she was oddly ok with that feeling. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. Allowing herself to remember this moment forever. A moment she had never experienced before. Peace.


	14. Chapter 14

Thank you all for reading my story! I hope you enjoyed it! I will be working on a sequel to this story as I still have a lot more in mind for Chelsea and Spencer!

If anyone is interested in Beta Reading my next story let me know. Any help is greatly appreciated! If you'd like to follow me on Twitter my account is JennLM1983 !

Any and all constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated!


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